Education Cannot Wait has published an interview with Richard Bennet, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Afghanistan:
“The ban on education for girls above the sixth grade is of course having a devastating impact on Afghan girls. They see their future lives and opportunities having been narrowed almost entirely to the domestic sphere, and this, combined with the prospect of early or forced marriage, has driven thousands of them into depression. Self-harm, including suicides and suicidal ideation, has risen dramatically. Families are being torn apart, with siblings separated, and communities fractured. The education ban is impacting Afghan society as a whole. Let alone the denial of the fundamental right to education, no society can prosper if half the population is not able to contribute to its economy. The long-term consequences include deepening poverty and gender inequality, an increase in gender-based violence and child marriage, and more child labour and other forms of exploitation. The devastating consequences will be intersectional and intergenerational. Education is a fundamental right and also provides crucial protection.”