After Afghan Quake, Male Rescuers Helped the Men

In the aftermath of a powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan, the country's strict gender rules left many women and teen girls without help as male rescue teams focused largely on men and younger children. Survivors in hard-hit villages described how, due to Taliban-enforced customs prohibiting contact between unrelated men and women, injured women were ignored or left waiting for female rescuers who rarely arrived, reports the New York Times.

One 19-year-old survivor in Kunar province said she and other women received no assistance, while wounded men and boys were treated promptly. One male volunteer confirmed that women trapped under debris often had to wait for other women to dig them out, and, if no male guardian was present, even the dead were moved only by their clothing to avoid direct contact. One Kunar local did tell the BBC he saw two women being pulled from a decimated home, but he doesn't have any photos—because the Taliban doesn't allow pictures of women, either. The Times notes that journalists also aren't permitted to ask questions of women affected by the quake.

Male family members also "don't want strangers" helping females, a women's rights activist tells Deutsche Welle. The United Nations and aid groups have voiced growing concern, stressing that Afghan women and girls "will again bear the brunt" of the crisis, per the Times. The country's lack of female medical workers, worsened by Taliban bans on women's education and employment, has become painfully clear in the quake's wake. Restrictions also mean female aid workers face harassment and threats, while girls remain barred from schooling beyond sixth grade and women are locked out of most jobs.

story continues below

Although Taliban officials say some women are working in hospitals in affected provinces, witnesses and journalists on the ground encountered few, if any, female staff in hospitals and on aid teams. For many survivors, the slow trickle of female assistance—if it came at all—offered little comfort. As that 19-year-old survivor concluded after days without outside help, "being a woman here means we are always the last to be seen." (The Taliban is clamoring for help from the outside world in the quake's aftermath.)