LGBT Afghans Suffering from Rape and Torture Under Taliban Rule

KABUL — (01-26-22) — A new report published Wednesday said that LGBT citizens of Afghanistan are facing increased security threats to their lives. Since the Taliban took power back last year, it has “dramatically worsened” for LGBT Afghans.

“The danger now facing LGBT people in Afghanistan—in an environment devoid of legal protections, under authorities that have explicitly pledged not to tolerate LGBT people—is grave,” The Report from Human Rights Watch and OutRight Action International wrote.

Two of the people interviewed for the report stated that members of the Taliban conservative extremists had raped them following the August takeover of Afghanistan. Others said they were beaten on the street “for wearing clothes that did not conform to gender norms.”

Human Rights Report on Afghanistan LGBT People

The report also included interviews of 60 LGBT Afghans that was conducted between October and December of 2021.

Many of those interviewed said they had been “attacked, sexually assaulted, or directly threatened by members of the Taliban because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Critics say why LGBT afghans didn’t try to leave the country prior to last August when they knew the Taliban were going to be taking over.

Supports of LGBT Afghans shot back by saying that the evacuation was not a possibility for some given the challenge “for Afghans who face persecution on any grounds to obtain the documentation and financial resources needed to leave the country.”

“For those who cannot or choose not to leave the country, it is urgent that their rights be protected within Afghanistan,” the report said.

Even before the Taliban took back control of their country back in August 2021, Afghanistan had criminalized LGBT sexual relationships in 2018 under the government of President Ashraf Ghani.

Article by: Paul Goldberg, Staff Writer

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