CLARKSBURG, W.Va. – Senator Shelley Moore Capito has joined a group of women senators who are standing up for girls’ education in Afghanistan.
According to a release from Capito, the Taliban is preventing Afghan girls from getting an education by backing out on a prior commitment to allow the girls into secondary schools. The group of female senators sent a letter to President Biden asking him to step in.
“Across Afghanistan, girls showed up to school last Wednesday, excited by the opportunity to learn again. Instead of open classrooms and welcoming teachers, they were met with locked doors and closed gates.”
“While we are not surprised that the Taliban has once again dismissed the rights of girls and young women, we are alarmed by the implications of their decision for 50 percent of the population and the future of Afghanistan. To this end, we urge you to convey clear consequences to the Taliban for their actions, and take immediate steps to bolster support for Afghan women and girls,” the senators wrote in the letter.
According to the letter, the senators see the Taliban’s removal of women in school as “part of a broader assault on women’s rights and freedom.”
The U.S. and the international community must tackle any obstacles to engaging women activists and fully empower women’s groups in decision-making and programming to funnel assistance to those who need it most,” the letter said.
In closing, the senators reiterated how critical it is to protect the two decades of progress on women’s rights that Afghan women fought to secure. The full letter can be viewed here.