2022 ban on women working with domestic or international NGOs and the United Nations, except in health, nutrition, and education, strategically leaves some women in key positions to ensure aid money continues to flow. This selective allowance serves to legitimize the regime while depriving the majority of women of their livelihoods, and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis by making it harder to deliver and monitor aid effectively.206 In the same year, feminist activists protesting were seized by the Taliban. In an interview with Amnesty, a protester who was detained for several days described the Taliban’s treatment, recounting severe beatings: [The Taliban guards] kept coming to my room and showing me pictures of my family. They kept repeating… ‘We can kill them, all of them, and you won’t be able to do anything… Don’t cry, don’t make a scene. After protesting, you should have expected days like this’...they locked the door. They started screaming at me… [One Taliban member] said, ‘You nasty woman… America is not giving us the money because of you bitches’… then he kicked me. 207 In 2023, Taliban security forces again attacked women protesting against their policies, detaining many, including activists Neda Parwani and Zholia Parsi, and subjecting them to torture.208 In April 2023, Taliban authorities expanded the ban on women working outside the home to include United Nations jobs, exacerbating humanitarian aid delivery challenges. Restrictions also barred women from public sector roles, except in limited fields, and mandated male chaperones for travel. Under this ban, women were prohibited from registering their own organizations.209 Forced closures of beauty salons affected 60,000 women-owned businesses. Additionally, ethnic minorities like the Hazara have faced increased marginalization, forced evictions, and violence. A number of minority ethnic and religious communities are facing displacement and violence under the Taliban. In addition to the Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, and Tajik groups have experienced growing 206 Reuters. (2022) Taliban Orders NGOs to Ban Female Employees from Coming to Work. Reuters. https://www. reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taliban-orders-ngos-ban-female-employees-coming-work-2022-12-24/ 207 Amnesty International. (2022). Afghanistan: Taliban’s Suffocating Crackdown Destroying Lives of Women and Girls – New Report. Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/07/afghanistan-talibans-suffocating-crackdown-destroying-lives-of-women-and-girls-new-report/ 208 Human Rights Watch. (2023). World Report 2023: Afghanistan. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/ world-report/2023/country-chapters/afghanistan-0 209 Amnesty International. (2023). Report: Afghanistan. 2023. Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/ 58