Taliban has banned the sale of contraceptives in Afghanistan’s two prominent cities, claiming that contraception is a “western conspiracy to control the Muslim population,” according to the media reports.

‘Visits, threats and orders’ by Taliban

Ahead of the stoppage of the use of contraceptives, the Taliban has been making door-to-door visits, threatening midwives and ordering pharmacies against the sale of birth control medicines and devices.

This is the latest attack on women’s rights by the Taliban who swept to power in August 2021. The Deobandi Islamic fundamentalist, Taliban has since banned higher education for girls, closed down universities for women, forced women out of their jobs and restricted their movements outside their homes.

While speaking to the media, a local shop owner said, “They came to my store twice with guns and threatened me not to keep contraceptive pills for sale. They are regularly checking every pharmacy in Kabul and we have stopped selling the products.”

A midwife claimed that a Taliban commander said, “You are not allowed to go outside and promote the western concept of controlling the population and this is unnecessary work.”

Moreover, another local told the media, “Items such as birth control pills and Depo-Provera injections are no longer allowed to be kept in the pharmacy since the start of this month, and we are too afraid to sell the existing stock.”

‘Taliban’s control is outrageous’

According to an Afghan-born social activist in the UK, Shabnam Nasimi, the Taliban’s control over women’s human right to work and study and now over their bodies is outrageous.

“It is a fundamental human right to have access to family planning and contraception services free of coercion. Such autonomy and agency are essential components of women’s rights, such as the right to equality, non-discrimination, life, sexual health, reproductive health, and other basic human rights,” Nasimi said.

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Human Rights Watch report 2021

According to a 2021 Human Rights Watch report, the most basic information on maternal health and family planning is not available to most women in Afghanistan.

“What emerged is a picture of a system that is increasingly unaffordable to the estimated 61% to 72% of Afghan women who live in poverty, and one in which women often have more children than they want because of lack of access to modern contraception; face risky pregnancies because of lack of care; and undergo procedures that could be done more safely with access to and capacity to use more modern techniques,” the 2021 Human Rights Watch report added.