In the last two years, human rights organizations have repeatedly accused the Taliban of engaging in gender-based apartheid against girls and women in Afghanistan. The LGBTQ+ community also raises concerns about gender apartheid, systematic elimination, and widespread rights violations by the Taliban, accusing the world of neglect. Under Taliban rule, transgender and lesbian (homosexual women) individuals face extremely challenging, oppressive, and crisis-ridden situations. The Hasht-e Subh Daily, in conversations with several transgender and lesbian individuals in Afghanistan, discovered that they endured sexual abuse, harassment, social deprivation, and forced disappearances by the Taliban. Some transgender individuals are currently missing, while others remain in hiding. Bitter and shocking stories of Taliban fighters’ behavior are shared by some transgender and lesbian individuals. According to their accounts, aside from humiliating treatment, the Taliban regard them as sexual slaves. Everyone interviewed in this report has experienced Taliban detention and torture, with transgender individuals alleging collective sexual assault when detained by the Taliban.
In this report, discussions have taken place with several transgender and lesbian individuals. Some of them are currently leading a hidden life. Some transgender individuals, who have recently experienced Taliban torture, are observed to have suffered physical injuries. In one case, the teeth of a transgender person who resisted sexual assault by a Taliban fighter have been broken.
Due to security threats and the risk of identifying transgender and lesbian individuals by the Taliban, their identities and precise locations are withheld in the report. However, some who have managed to escape the country have spoken openly about their identities.
Transgender and lesbian individuals in Afghanistan claim that the Taliban have fully imposed gender apartheid on them. They assert that, in addition to individual killings, forced disappearances, sexual assault, and social deprivation, they are now at risk of collective annihilation.
One transgender individual, whose name is not disclosed in the report due to security threats, tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily that they have endured hardships and torture in their life that they cannot express. According to them, before the government’s collapse, despite societal and traditional pressures, they could enjoy relative freedoms in certain aspects of their lives.
Each time this transgender individual opens up about the living conditions of the LGBTQ+ community under the rule of the Taliban, tears flow uncontrollably, accompanied by loud cries. Emphasizing, “I wish God hadn’t found us,” they reveal having been detained and subjected to sexual assault by the Taliban on two occasions.
The transgender individual adds that during the initial days of the Taliban regime, their fighters detained and held them captive for two nights near Kabul’s airport. According to their claim, there were fifteen Taliban fighters, all of whom sexually assaulted them during that period. The transgender person recounts, “I wanted to leave the country through the airport, but a few Taliban militants stopped me. When they realized I was transgender, they detained me and took me to their Mullah. No amount of crying and pleading had any effect. They took me to a container and assaulted me for two consecutive nights. I had lost consciousness; I was lifeless and shattered.”
While shedding tears due to the harrowing and traumatic experiences, a bitter smile occasionally appears on their lips when recalling the individuals who assaulted them. They express, “Their bodies smelled shit, their genitals were long, and the hair of their genitals was woven like a girl’s hair.”
This transgender individual shares another poignant and painful account of the Taliban. They state, “A Taliban militant approached me, emitting a strong bad odor and being hefty. I resisted, saying I wouldn’t submit. He struck my leg with a knife and struck me with the butt of his gun. I lost consciousness. When I regained consciousness, he had assaulted me and had sprayed pepper into my anus. I was burning in pain in my private parts… tears.”
Multiple transgender individuals in this interview have confirmed that they have been subjected to sexual assault by the Taliban. They claim that when confronted by the Taliban, the fighters of this group immediately demand sexual relations.
One of these transgender individuals alleges, “When the Taliban captured me, one of them approached and said, ‘Satisfy our desires; we are not married.’ Someone who has been assaulted numerous times is not afraid of assault anymore, but the Taliban’s assaults are more brutal than others, and after the assault, they throw chili powder or insert other objects into the rectum.”
Simultaneously, another transgender individual living in eastern Afghanistan narrates the challenging situation in their home. They state that one day, they contacted their sister and inquired about her husband, intending to visit and share their concerns if he wasn’t at home. This transgender person adds, “I put on full makeup, and went to my sister’s home. When her husband came and saw me there, shouted to my sister, “Why did you let this transgender inside my house?’ He beat my sister and dragged me out of the house… (crying) I wish God hadn’t found us.”
They further explain that after returning from their sister’s house, they went to a bakery to buy bread but encountered a Taliban fighter who took them to a base. Taliban fighters subjected them to group sexual assault. The transgender individual claims, “I went to the bakery, a Taliban militant came and said, ‘Come here, let me inspect you!’ He attempted it. My breasts are prominent. When he touched my breasts, he said, ‘This is a transgender person.’ When they took me to their checkpost, several of them sexually assaulted me. Before this act [sexual assault], I cried. They said, ‘Stop crying; we won’t kill you, we will let you go after this act [sexual assault].'”
She adds that as a result of the sexual assault by the Taliban, her well-being has deteriorated. With loud cries indicating her inability to endure further, Taliban fighters have shattered her teeth by striking their fists at her mouth. She says, “I told them I can barely endure another person; they said no, we are four. They punched my teeth until they broke it… (crying) I wish the ground would open up and I could disappear.”
This transgender individual, who has experienced sexual assault by the Taliban twice, recounts, “Again when I was thirsty, I came out of the room with a bucket in my hand. The Taliban pursued me and entered the room. They said we hadn’t seen anything [sexual partner] in the mountains; you’re the one who can quench our sexual thirst. When I tried to resist, they said if you resist, we’ll put this bucket in your rectum.”
Meanwhile, lesbians also face a similar situation. In addition to concealing their identity, which is difficult to discern visually, they have bitter stories of life under the Taliban’s rule.
Maliha, one of Afghanistan’s lesbians who has gone to Pakistan after being detained and threatened with death by the Taliban, narrates the circumstances of her arrest in a telephone conversation with the Hasht-e Subh Daily. This lesbian recounts the night of her arrest, saying, “At 9:00 PM, the house gate was knocked. We were all scared, saying prayers; oh God, help us. We opened the gate, and the Taliban had their faces covered. I quickly put on a chador because no one else had short hair like mine. Apology and pleading were in vain; the Taliban took me with them, and may God never show that night again.”
Maliha, who spent two nights in a Taliban prison, refrains from discussing sexual assault by this group but emphasizes severe torture, humiliation, and degradation. She claims that after being detained by the Taliban, her father disowned her. This lesbian underscores that her father had warned her not to return home, and eventually, she was forced to head towards her sister’s house, where her sister’s husband denied her entry.
She states that afterward, she decided to cross the Spin Boldak border into Pakistan. According to her, many lesbians have experienced Taliban sexual assault, severe beatings, and cable punishments. On the night she was detained by the Taliban, some of her friends were with her, but due to security concerns, she did not want to reveal their identities. She alleges that the Taliban told her father, “Accept your daughter or face death.”
Maliha recounts, “The night the Taliban took me, they didn’t give me any bread. My legs were tied, and they used cable and a whip extensively. My head was spinning, and I was turning around. The family had sent a message to be cautious not to return home anymore. Your homecoming will cost you your disappearance or death. Now, I am wandering; neither do we have a place in Afghanistan nor Pakistan.”
This lesbian adds, “A few days ago, a lesbian called and said they took Shabana from the Khisht-e Hokhteef area of Kabul. It’s been 20 days, and there’s no news of her being alive or dead. She still claims that ten of her lesbian friends are living covertly in Afghanistan.”
This lesbian, who claims to be tired of life, explicitly states her desire to be in a place where she can live like other humans with security and dignity. She expresses, “The situation is dire. We have no way out. We work in people’s homes, but finding work is difficult, and they offer charity. Most nights, I wander the streets in Pakistan until morning.”
Meanwhile, Mohra Barkzai, a transgender and human rights activist, describes the situation of transgender individuals in Afghanistan as “very horrifying.” According to her, gender minorities are systematically and purposefully eliminated from society.
Barkzai states, “Considering the past decades, the situation of gender minorities under the Taliban regime is very horrifying. Those who have been expelled by their families from different cities in Afghanistan have traveled to Kabul to find refuge for themselves. Unfortunately, today we witness their refuge being taken away. Those who have given shelter in homes feel threatened by the Taliban and, for the protection of their lives, force transgender individuals out of their homes.”
Barkzai adds that many transgender individuals in Afghanistan spend their days and nights on the streets, lacking food and a place to live. Some have even resorted to prostitution. This human rights defender emphasizes that despite the horrifying situation of transgender individuals in Afghanistan, the United Nations and other human rights organizations have not shown any reaction or provided the necessary collaboration. Barkzai emphasizes that she has repeatedly asked the United Nations and human rights organizations for help for transgender individuals in Afghanistan, but their response has been silence. According to her, some of these institutions and organizations have said, “We have more important projects.”
This human rights activist emphasizes that the United Nations’ silence regarding the situation of gender minorities is itself a violation of human rights, stating, “We are being excluded from society, not a priority for human rights organizations, and are categorized at the bottom of the lists of Afghan society.”
Barkzai declares, “Many of them [transgender individuals] resort to suicide, and some have committed suicide, a fact that remains unnoticed by the media. We try to find a doctor for them but have only managed to find one who cooperates. Unfortunately, even doctors are not cooperative. We become victims day by day and are systematically eliminated from society.”
On the other hand, Wida Saghari, a human rights activist, tells Hasht-e Subh Daily that “transgender individuals, lesbians, and bisexuals” are among the recognized LGBTQ+ community in Afghanistan.
This human rights activist states that after the Taliban’s takeover, the global community has evacuated very few LGBTQ+ communities from the country, while a large number of them have sought refuge in neighboring and regional countries. Due to a lack of job opportunities, hunger, and poverty, many of them have been forced into prostitution and begging.
Ms. Saghari emphasizes that the rights of gender minorities have never been officially recognized in Afghanistan, and no effective measures have been taken for this social group. According to her claim, the majority of individuals in this spectrum are illiterate and lack employable skills, and the ability to generate income through legal means, leading them to resort to prostitution. She further adds that their families are under pressure from traditional and religious societal norms, exacerbating the risk of death for gender minorities.
Ms. Saghari asserts that most members of the Taliban, given their upbringing, are “gay or bisexual,” and this is not meant to be negatively construed. She adds, “The majority of Taliban members have grown up in complete isolation from the opposite gender since childhood, and their sexual orientation is either gay, homosexual, or bisexual, having both a wife and a male underage sexual partner. It’s often observed that the Taliban live with boys. They engage in these relationships discreetly, exposing the vulnerable spectrum to the risks of violence, death, and various forms of sadism and masochism. Physical wounds and injuries have been inflicted on gender minorities, damaging their reproductive organs, and they are held captive as sexual slaves. These occurrences are also observed in Taliban prisons.”
This human rights activist further states that members of the LGBTIQ+ community in Afghanistan are fleeing the country, and when caught, they are killed.
Ms. Saghari states that the global community remains unaware of the situation of gender minorities in Afghanistan, and as Afghan human rights organizations, having “Afghanized” democracy, education, religion, human rights, and civil society, have avoided intervening in this area to avoid being stigmatized.
This human rights activist adds to her remarks regarding the living conditions and appearance of gender minorities: “Behaviorally, their faces, skin, and their perspective on life are very evident, making it impossible for them to hide. They are usually concealed in houses and terrifying hideouts filled with lice, filth, insects, vermin, and drugs.”
Ms. Saghari continues to emphasize that alongside the gender minority community, many women and girls have been forced into sexual relationships with the Taliban and other men due to poverty, destitution, and underage and forced marriages.
Following the Taliban’s takeover, dozens of LGBTQ+ community members from Afghanistan have sought refuge in Pakistan and Iran due to fear of persecution. Some of them, in interviews with the Hasht-e Subh Daily, confirmed facing harassment and abuse in these countries.
Previously, the Rainbow Afghanistan Organisation, based in Germany, expressed concern about the situation of transgender individuals in Afghanistan and Pakistan through a news statement. According to this organization, members of the LGBTQ+ community in Afghanistan and Pakistan are systematically subjected to attacks, threats, and sexual abuse. The organization specifically highlighted the alarming situation of transgender individuals in Pakistan, where two Afghan transgender individuals were killed in Peshawar over the past month, and several others were sexually assaulted.
In a statement issued by the Rainbow Afghanistan Organisation regarding the murder of a transgender person in Peshawar, it stated, “Unfortunately, a significant number of transgender individuals from Afghanistan, seeking refuge in Pakistan after the return of the Taliban, are brutally threatened and attacked by extremist Islamic individuals, facing sexual abuse.”
The Rainbow Afghanistan Organisation in Germany has urged an investigation into the “crimes of the Taliban” against LGBTQ+ community members and demanded that the perpetrators be brought to an independent court.
