Meryl Streep says a ‘squirrel has more rights’ than an Afghan girl

UNITED NATIONS, United States: American actor Meryl Streep has said a “squirrel has more rights” than a girl in Afghanistan, adding her voice to a call by Afghan women to end the Taliban government´s severe restrictions on their lives.

Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law since returning to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led forces.

Women and girls have borne the brunt of restrictions -- including being barred from public parks, universities and singing in public -- which the United Nations has labeled “gender apartheid”.

“A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban,” Streep said on Monday during a discussion on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

“A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not, and a woman may not in public,” the Oscar-winning actor said.

“I feel that the international community as a whole, if they came together, could affect change in Afghanistan, and stop the slow suffocation of an entire half (of) the population.”