Young women and girls already facing deep inequality in Afghanistan suffer from new barriers created by the novel Coronavirus pandemic.

A few weeks ago, on May 28, 2020, Human Rights Watch launched a questionnaire in order to learn more about the ways in which the pandemic has impacted parents, caregivers, and students.

By June 6, people from 54 countries had filled the survey out (and it’s still receiving responses), with some very strong themes repeating themselves throughout the answers. With these answers, Human Rights Watch is able to “identify issues of concern”.

This survey was extremely useful and it lead to some interesting insight on children’s experience specifically. There were several underlying topics in common events.

Due to government responses to the spread of COVID-19, millions of children globally have been faced with their schools closing making it difficult to continue their educational process.

Some countries had the resources and organization to begin online learning, however many populations did not have this privilege and found new ways to encourage studying.

There were few governments that were as unprepared as Afghanistan was, however. In the country, schools are closed until at least September, and Afghans have detailed the challenges that the pandemic and the ongoing war present to education.

Even before the pandemic, Afghan schools were in crisis. The amount of children receiving an education is consistently decreasing in numerous provinces with escalating tensions and donor funding reducing.

As mentioned previously, girls were already faced with inequality. Afghanistan has many more schools for boys than it does for girls, and by secondary school girls make up less than 36% of the student body at these schools.

The World Bank has estimated that with 55% of people below the poverty line, and that 14% of Afghans use the internet. With these statistics, it comes as no surprise that online study works for few students. Many parents are unable to help their children in their studies, seeing as only 30% of women and 55% of men are literate.

Answers to the Human Rights Watch survey have indicated that girls currently out of school are facing housework burdens, social isolation, and less access to the internet, making them less likely to make it back to school.

A study in 2019 shown light on a shocking fact: Afghan women spent approximately 18.7 hours per day on caring for children and others, preparing meals, and cleaning, while men spend around 5.6 hours per day on the same tasks.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has increased responsibilities for women, and actually pushing them out of paid employment. However, lack of education is not the only risk women face.

With big families and tensions rising, family violence with children as the victims is common. In fact, 35% of Afghan girls marry in their childhood, an event associated with being pulled out of school.

There is much to be done by the Afghan government and international donors, starting by minimizing the effects of Coronavirus on young women and girls. “Afghan women and girls can’t face another setback” (Human Rights Watch, 2020).

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