Meryl Streep: ‘A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan’

Last month, the Taliban published a new set of “vice and virtue” laws that said women must not leave the house without being fully covered and could not sing or raise their voices in public.

Streep spoke alongside Afghan activists and human rights defenders, who called on the UN to act to protect and restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Asila Wardak, a leader of the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, said that the system of what has been described as “gender apartheid” being imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan, was not just an Afghan issue, but part of the “global fight against extremism”.

Streep’s comments have been widely shared on social media by human rights activists, who praised the actor for using her fame and platform to amplify the voices of Afghan women.

Read More: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/sep/24/meryl-streep-a-squirrel-has-more-rights-than-a-girl-in-afghanistan-taliban-un