"UN Women -- Afghanistan" issued a "Gender Alert" expressing concerns on the Afghan women’s situation, saying that since August 15, there have been rapid reversals for women across all aspects of Afghan society.

The report was meant to "document and analyze" the “rapidly evolving Afghan context” on Afghan women rights and gender equality.  

“Since 15 August 2021, there have been immediate and dramatic reversals on women’s rights and fundamental freedom, particularly impacting their right to work, access to education, basic health and protection services and participation of women and girls in the public sphere and decision-making mechanism,” the report said.  

With the Islamic Emirate takeover of power, the status of Afghan women has yet to be clarified.  

Shahista, who worked in the government, is now jobless after the Islamic Emirate banned women from going to work, and she said that conditions would improve if a woman had access to work and education.  

“I can’t go to work. I can’t do sport. I had many dreams but now they are all destroyed,” she said.  

“Women have faced a lot of challenges in the past two decades,” said Saleha, a women's rights activist.  

“We call on the international community to form a roadmap for the Afghan women,” said Hamira Farhangian, a women's rights activist.  

The Islamic Emirate said that there were no restrictions on women’s activities.  

“We deny this issue. There are over 133 universities in the country where girls also attend,” said Bilala Karimi, deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate. 

According to the Gender Alert report, despite the Islamic Emirate's assurance that the rights of women and girls will be respected under Islamic Law, “there is a rapid reversal of their rights across all areas of life.”  

The report said that approximately 60 percent of out-of-school children are girls.  

“US$ 1 billion or up to 5% of the GDP is the estimated immediate economic loss of restricting women from working,” the report cited in a graph.  

“This Gender Alert also explores how the rights of women and girls are interconnected, meaning that rapid improvement across the full spectrum of women’s rights is urgently needed,” the report said.   

The report also proposed support to “rebuild the Afghan women’s movement", "support services for women by women," and the "monitoring (of) human rights.”