International outcry after the Taliban banned women from universities in Afghanistan
There has been an international outcry following the order by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to introduce an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women.
It further restricts women's access to formal education, as they were already excluded from most secondary schools.
It comes less than three months after thousands of girls and women sat university entrance exams across the country, with many aspiring to begin careers in engineering and medicine.
The US and UK have condemned the move, which the Taliban defended by saying preserved “national interest” and women’s “honour”.
"What it is, it’s clearly another broken promise from the Taliban," The United Nations spokesperson for the Secretary-General Stéphane Dujarric said.
"We have seen since their takeover and it also in the past months, just a lessening of the space for women, not only in education but access to public areas, their nonparticipation in the public debate."
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the Taliban had forced women out of civilisation.
"The Taliban have permanently sentenced Afghan women to a darker and more barren future without opportunity," he said.
"No country can thrive when half of its population is arbitrarily held back. Education is an internationally recognised human right, and it is essential to Afghanistan's economic growth and stability."
Women have already been pushed out of many government jobs or are being paid a slashed salary to stay at home.
Last month they were prohibited from going to parks, funfairs, gyms, and public baths in the capital.
Leading Taliban members and Afghan clerics are opposed to modern education, particularly for girls and women.
However, the international community has made the right to education
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