Cats have more freedom than Afghan women - Meryl Streep

Cats person much state than women successful Afghanistan, Hollywood histrion Meryl Streep has said successful an entreaty to the planetary assemblage to halt the Taliban's repression.

Speaking connected the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the histrion pointed retired that adjacent animals had much rights present successful Afghanistan pursuing accrued restrictions connected women.

In response, a Taliban spokesperson said they "highly respected" women and would "never comparison them to cats".

Streep's comments travel aft the Taliban authorities past period introduced a new acceptable of "morality laws".

Among different things, these rules authorities that women's voices tin nary longer beryllium heard successful nationalist and that they are not allowed to look straight astatine men they are not related to by humor oregon marriage.

The measures adhd to a litany of restrictions that the authorities has imposed connected Afghan women and girls since returning to powerfulness 3 years ago.

Women person to wholly screen their faces and bodies erstwhile leaving their homes. Women and girls aged implicit 12 are besides prevented from going to schools, parks, gyms and athletics clubs. There are restrictions connected the benignant of enactment that they are allowed to do.

"Today successful Kabul a pistillate feline has much state than a woman. A feline whitethorn spell beryllium connected her beforehand stoop and consciousness the prima connected her face, she whitethorn pursuit a squirrel successful the park," Streep said connected Monday astatine an lawsuit to rise consciousness of Afghan women's rights astatine the UN office successful New York.

"A squirrel has much rights than a miss successful Afghanistan contiguous due to the fact that the nationalist parks person been closed to women and girls by the Taliban.

"A vertebrate whitethorn sing successful Kabul, but a miss whitethorn not successful public. This is extraordinary. This is simply a suppression of the earthy law.

"The mode that this culture, this nine has been upended, is simply a cautionary communicative for the remainder of the world," said Streep, who called connected satellite leaders to "stop the dilatory suffocation" of Afghan women and girls.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who attended the aforesaid event, said Afghanistan "will ne'er instrumentality its rightful spot connected the planetary stage" without educated women and women successful employment.

In effect to Streep's remarks, a Taliban spokesperson said that "none tin contradict women the rights which Islam has fixed them".

"We highly respect them successful their relation arsenic mother, sister, wife. They are [an] indispensable portion of [the] household and nine but we ne'er comparison them to cats," Suhail Shaheen, the caput of the Taliban's governmental office, told the BBC.

He added that presently hundreds of thousands of women enactment successful assorted authorities ministries and arsenic entrepreneurs.

Western countries, led by the United States and the European Union, person condemned the caller laws, but the Taliban has defended the edict saying it is successful accordance with Islamic Sharia law.

The Taliban has besides said they are trying to alteration the acquisition strategy to much intimately align with Islamic principles, and person repeatedly promised that women would beryllium readmitted to schools erstwhile those issues are sorted. To date, however, determination has not been immoderate movement.