Sep 25, 2024 09:17 AM IST
Meryl Streep highlighted the dire situation of women in Afghanistan and urged global leaders to unite against their oppression.
Meryl Streep made a sincere appeal to the international community to take steps to stop the Taliban’s oppression in Afghanistan, as she said cats have more freedom than women in the oppressed country. The Hollywood actress took the stage at the United Nations General Assembly and drew attention to the plight of women as restrictions on them increase in the graveyard of empires. Her appeal was responded to by a Taliban spokesperson, who said they “respect” women “very much” and “would never compare them to cats.”
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Meryl Streep spoke up for the women of Afghanistan at UNGA
Streep’s appeal comes after the Taliban laid down a web of “morality laws” for women in the country. In her appeal at the UNGA, the Mamma Mia actor said, “Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a female cat. A cat can sit on her front step and feel the sun on her face, she can chase squirrels in the park,” on Monday.
“Today in Afghanistan a squirrel has more rights than a girl because the Taliban has closed public parks to women and girls. A bird can sing in Kabul, but a girl cannot sing in public. This is extraordinary. This is the suppression of natural law,” she added, at an event in New York to raise awareness about the status of women’s rights in Afghanistan.
“The way this culture, this society, has been turned upside down is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world,” she said, calling on world leaders to make a united effort to stop the “slow suffocation” of Afghan girls and women.
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Atrocities against women by Taliban in Afghanistan
Among these new reinforcements, one rule states that women’s voices should no longer be heard in public spaces, as reported by the BBC. In addition, they are not allowed to look at men who are not related to them by blood or marriage. This rule is one of many such directives that the Taliban government imposed on women when it came to power three years ago. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was also present at the event, stressed that without educated women and their participation in the workforce, Afghanistan “will never take its rightful place on the global stage”.
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