Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate, has denied the violation of women's rights in the country and stated that women's rights are more protected now compared to the past.
Reacting to statements by the United Nations Secretary-General and the US representative to the UN regarding the violation of women's and girls' rights in Afghanistan, the Deputy Spokesperson further stated that the rights of all individuals, including women and girls, are now protected in the country.
Speaking to TOLOnews, the Deputy Spokesperson of the Islamic Emirate said: "To ensure the Islamic rights of women, the Amir al-Mu'minin issued a comprehensive six-article decree that emphasized all Islamic rights and freedoms of women."
Earlier, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, had said that women's rights in Afghanistan had been violated.
The US ambassador to the UN also expressed concern over the violation of women's rights, emphasizing that the international community must do more to advocate for Afghan women's rights.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield added: “We have seen the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan continue to worsen under the Taliban and we think we need to do more to hold them accountable but also to push them to change. They can not continue to live in a world where women are being sidelined in society.”
"We see that the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan under Taliban rule is worsening day by day. We must work harder to hold the Taliban accountable and pressure them for change. We cannot live in a world where women are marginalized and minorities have no role in the affairs of the country."
A number of women's rights activists are stressing the importance of upholding the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.
"Our request from the Islamic Emirate government is to pay attention to the rights of all the people of Afghanistan, especially women," Tafsir Siyahposh, a women's rights activist, told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in an interview with The Express, urged the international community to pressure the Islamic Emirate to restore the right to education for girls, so that the deprivation of education and work for women and girls in Afghanistan does not continue.