For the first time in Olympic history, female and male athletes will be equally represented in Paris – a milestone that must serve as a call to action for greater progress in support for women everywhere.
Nowhere is attention and action needed more than in response to the Taliban’s haunting use of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Sports organizers, influencers, athletes, and spectators have an unparalleled opportunity to demonstrate solidarity and steward action in support of Afghan female athletes – and women and children in Afghanistan more broadly.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) took the first steps by blocking the Taliban from participating in the Paris Games, following ongoing debate on whether Afghanistan should be represented at all. Other elite sporting bodies should follow this example and ensure gender equal participation of Afghan athletes in international competition and ban a Taliban presence. This so far has not happened.
Exiled around the world, Afghanistan’s women’s national teams have endured, driven by the sports they love and their unrelenting belief in the inherent rights and dignity of all Afghans.
Unfortunately, many sports-related governing bodies like FIFA and the International Cricket Council have so far refused to allow these players to partake in international competition since the Taliban’s return to power. Citing red tape that in many ways also serves as concerning deference to the Taliban’s use of gender apartheid, these institutions hypocritically allow Afghanistan’s male teams to access international competition while female athletes are prohibited. And, not surprisingly, the Taliban have eagerly exploited these opportunities for propaganda purposes.
One exception is Cricket Australia, currently the only national sporting body that has taken a stand in response to the Taliban’s unrelenting assault on the rights and well-being of Afghan women other than the IOC. This includes multiple cancellations of scheduled competitions against the Afghan men’s national team as a show of solidarity with Afghanistan’s female cricketers.
Desperate in their pursuit for international recognition, the Taliban continue to manipulate international opportunities in every form to fortify their unjust hold on power and enrich themselves.
But the IOC took a hard line, prohibiting Taliban officials from accreditation and any presence at the Games. The country will compete under the tricolor flag of black, red, and green – not the Taliban regime’s black and white flag.
The IOC also continues to recognize the exiled Afghan National Olympic Committee leadership as the official representative of Afghan athletes. Because of this, the Afghan team will be represented by an equal number of female and male athletes – three of each:
- Kimia Yousofi (athletics)
- Yuldoz Hashimi (cycling)
- Fariba Hashimi (cycling)
- Fahim Anwari (swimming)
- Shah Mahmud Noorzai (athletics)
- Mohmmad Samim (judo)
This is especially poignant at the Paris Games – one of the most anticipated global sporting events of this millennium – since women were first permitted (in part) to compete at an Olympics in Paris in 1900.
Corporations, philanthropists, and other funding sponsors should do their part by meaningfully investing in Afghanistan’s female athletes, including providing resources for the exiled women’s national teams and sports programs for refugee communities.
In addition to Afghanistan’s Olympic Team, Afghans represent a notable number of the 37 athletes competing under the Olympic Refugee Team. Moreover, courageously defying Taliban edicts, female athletes within Afghanistan bravely continue to train, maintaining hope for a brighter future for all Afghans. But like any athlete, sustained support in desperately needed.
Media, public and private sector leaders, and other visible influencers should use their platforms and the momentum of international events like the Olympics to lift up Afghanistan’s female athletes, advocates, and the haunting experiences of Afghan women under the Taliban.
Ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron offered a message of hope directly to Afghan women and girls, praising their strength and resilience. But far more advocacy and unified action at the highest levels of international influence are desperately needed, especially as the Taliban continue their slow but steady pursuit for recognition within spheres of influence.
The Taliban will not stop in the pursuit to erase women from public life in Afghanistan. Nearly three years since this autocratic regime returned to power, their vicious assault on Afghan women has only expanded. And when it’s afforded, the world stage is often leveraged to manipulate information and reinforce their cruelty.
Earlier this summer, when the Afghan team was officially presented by the IOC, the Taliban quickly twisted the announcement in a desperate attempt to discredit the female athletes selected. Misogynistic and dehumanizing as always, they condescendingly cited their vicious argument that as women are not permitted to participate in sport within the country, they can’t possibly represent Afghanistan outside of it.
Meanwhile, on a daily basis, Afghan women and girls face egregious violations of their agency and well-being under the Taliban. Access to secondary and tertiary education, most forms of employment, freedom of movement, and even participation in sport are banned for Afghan women and girls.
Widespread poverty and hunger, maternal and infant mortality, forced marriage, and child labor continue to skyrocket as Afghanistan’s economy and basic infrastructure teeter on the edge of collapse as a result of the Taliban’s return to power and assault on human rights.
Women, girls, and allies who have courageously stood up against Taliban atrocities have been harassed and hunted. Unjustly detained, many brave activists have faced beatings, sexual assault, and death.
Simply put, Afghanistan under the Taliban represents one of the most barbaric examples of gender-based persecution in modern history. And their depravity towards the Afghan people, especially women and their children, is nothing short of barbaric.
Some will argue that the Olympics should remain free of politics and opinion. But the world cannot forget that silence and apathy to the plight of millions of women and girls living under the cruelty of the Taliban are also statements. And ones that are glaringly contrary to the values and principles of not only the Olympic Games but our shared humanity as a global community.
The Olympic movement is living up to its goals as a “gender equal” representation of “humanity.” Now it’s time for other international sporting bodies to do the same. The world must stand with Afghan women. In Paris and beyond.
