Fariba Loved Studying, Until The Taliban Denied Her Access To School, With Devastating Consequences

Afghanistan Girls | 15-year-old Fariba loved going to school and she loved studying. But in 2022, Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government stopped girls’ education. Fariba’s school closed overnight. But she kept going back. She kept telling her daughter that everything was ok and nothing had happened. “Later I went to the market with Fariba. I thought it might improve her mood. I asked her, 'Do you like anything? Shall I buy it for you? Get some makeup, buy some henna, or choose something else you’d like.' But she had no spark in her.” Later that night they went to bed. “The next morning, I woke up by the screams and cries of one of my other daughters “Mother!” She kept screaming, and that’s when I realized my life was completely shattered.” Later, the neighbors told her that they had found rat poison under the bed of Fariba.” “I thought that when Fariba had gone to the market with me, she must have bought it there. The poison package had a piece of paper wrapped around it.” The note read: "Mother and my sisters, forgive me. I can’t bear the suffering anymore. Being a girl in these circumstances is so hard. I don’t want to breathe in this life anymore." Fariba died just a few months after turning 16. The Associated Press agreed not to identify the family because of the stigma of suicide and the fear of Taliban reprisals. There are no recent statistics on suicide in Afghanistan, where women already made up the majority of cases before 2021. Suicide is forbidden in Islam and carries deep cultural stigma. Yet Afghan Witness, a U.K.-based rights group, has reported a surge in female suicides since the Taliban takeover, linking them to forced marriage, Taliban violence, and restrictions on education and employment. Taliban officials said they are working on conditions for the return of female education but they have not clarified what those conditions might be. The AP reached out to the Afghan government but got no response. Rights groups have estimated at least 2.2 million Afghan girls are out of school because of the Taliban’s ban on secondary education. Afghanistan is the only country in the world where girls are denied access to education beyond the 6th grade. Women are also banned from attending university. The education bans have also damaged Afghanistan’s economy and public health. Experts have warned of child marriages, higher maternal mortality and an annual economic loss of 500 million US dollars.