Dear Brother Archons and Friends of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
On July 29, I called your attention to the systematic denial of rights to women and girls in Afghanistan. That denial continues, and is worsening. The Taliban’s treatment of the women of that country has gone way beyond the mistreatment and discrimination we see elsewhere, and has progressed to outright dehumanization.
In a disturbing August 13 article, the New York Times reported that “Afghanistan is the only country in the world to formally prohibit access to education for girls and women beyond the primary level.” In fact, “women and girls have been systematically erased from most public life.” Not only have they been barred from obtaining an education, but their employment, movement, dress, speech and decision-making have been severely restricted.
The UN agency on women states: “No other country in modern times has dismantled the rights of half its population through law, policy and practice to the same extent. At the same time, overlapping humanitarian and economic crises and deepening poverty are also having a disproportionate impact on women and girls.”
Five years ago, in mid-August 2021, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. Since then, the rights of women have steadily deteriorated to a degree that we have not seen for centuries. The Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate call upon the UN, the governments of the world that are committed to the equality of rights and dignity of women, and the global human rights organizations to take urgent action to protect the women of Afghanistan, and to pressure this criminal regime to reduce its inhumane pressure upon that nation’s mothers, wives, and daughters.
Yours in the service of the Ecumenical Patriarchate,
Anthony J. Limberakis, MD
Archon Grand Aktouarios
National Commander
