Centuries-old customs and Taliban-imposed gender restrictions are compounding the tragedy for Afghan women following the recent deadly earthquake, which killed at least 2,200 people and reduced scores of buildings to rubble. Women have often been the last to be rescued, or not rescued at all, due to ‘no skin contact with unrelated males’ rule that forbids male rescues from touching them

Strict cultural and religious norms, enforced by the Taliban government in Afghanistan, permit only a woman’s close male relative, her father, brother, husband or son, to touch her and similarly, women are prohibited from touching men outside their family

This rule makes the situation even more dire in the absence of female rescue workers, a consequence of the Taliban’s ban on women’s enrollment in medical education and other public roles. As a result, women trapped under debris are sometimes left behind while the dead are pulled out, further underscoring how gender rules, not just rubble, are obstructing rescue efforts in a country ruled by the Taliban for the past four years

“They gathered us in one corner and forgot about us,” a New York Time report quoted Bibi Aysha as she recalled how rescue teams arrived more than 36 hours after a massive earthquake devastated her village in Afghanistan’s mountainous Kunar Province[…]
In some cases, female victims remained buried until women from neighbouring areas arrived to help[…]
More than 2,200 people were killed and 3,600 injured in the magnitude 6 earthquake that flattened entire villages. The horrific natural calamity also exposed the deeply entrenched gender discrimination women face in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan

“Women and girls will again bear the brunt of this disaster,” warned Susan Ferguson, the UN Women representative in Afghanistan. “Their needs must be at the heart of the response and recovery”