Taliban chief bans pressured marriage of girls in Afghanistan

The Taliban decreed on Friday they have been banning pressured marriage of girls in Afghanistan, a transfer apparently meant to deal with standards the worldwide neighborhood think about a precondition to recognizing their authorities and restoring help to the war-torn nation.
The transfer was introduced by the reclusive Taliban chief, Hibatullah Akhunzada, a cleric chosen because the group’s supreme chief who’s believed to be within the southern metropolis of Kandahar. It comes as poverty is surging in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in August amid the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. Since then, international governments have halted funds that had been a mainstay of the economic system.

“Both (women and men) should be equal,” mentioned the decree, including that “no one can force women to marry by coercion or pressure.” Women’s rights improved markedly over the previous twenty years of worldwide presence in Afghanistan, however are seen as below menace with the return of the Taliban, who throughout their earlier rule within the Nineteen Nineties just about cloistered ladies, banned them from public life and entry to schooling.

Forced marriages have grow to be extra commonplace within the poor, conservative nation, because the internally displaced marry off their younger daughters in change for a bride-price that can be utilized to pay money owed and feed their households.
The decree didn’t point out a minimal age for marriage, which beforehand was set at 16 years outdated.

Women in Afghanistan for many years have been handled like property — as an change token for blood cash or ending disputes or tribal feuds. The Taliban now state they’re in opposition to the follow. They additionally mentioned a widow will now be allowed to re-marry 17 weeks after her husband’s dying, selecting her new husband freely.
Longstanding tribal traditions have held it customary for a widow to marry one among her husband’s brothers or family members within the occasion of his dying.
The Taliban management says it has ordered Afghan courts to deal with ladies pretty, particularly widows searching for inheritance as subsequent of kin. The group additionally says it has requested authorities ministers to unfold consciousness of girls’s rights throughout the inhabitants.
Friday’s announcement comes as hundreds of ladies from grades seven to 12 are nonetheless not allowed to attend faculty, and a majority of girls have been banned from returning to their jobs for the reason that Taliban takeover.