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The Taliban weaponize virginity tests to further oppress women
Matin Mehrab* authored this report for the Zan Times in Persian, and it was translated into English by Rustam Seerat.
In July 2022, the Taliban forcibly subjected a 14-year-old girl to a virginity test in Jawzjan province, as part of a systematic effort to further oppress girls and women in Afghanistan. Mariam* describes the experience as the most bitter of her young life.
She lives in a village near Sheberghan, the province’s capital. One day when she was leaving a restaurant in downtown Sheberghan with her mother and aunt when she was approached by a young boy who acted as though he wanted to be a friend and handed her a contact number.
They communicated via messages and phone calls for a few days, then, their call was abruptly disconnected. “The next day, a woman called me saying she was the boy’s sister and that his elder brother was also present. They wanted to see me and propose marriage for their brother,” Mariam tells Zan Times. “She added that he was sick and couldn’t talk.”
What Mariam did not know was that the woman was acting for the Taliban. Unaware of this, Mariam provided her personal details and her address. Two days before Eid al-Adha, the Taliban forcefully entered…
