'Cats have more freedom than Afghan women...' Meryl Streep's scathing attack on Taliban | WATCH
Female cats and squirrels have more freedom than women in Afghanistan, said actress and activist Meryl Streep at the United Nations. The statement, which is now making headlines across the world came during a high-level side event on the Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan on the margins of the Summit of the Future at the United Nations.
The event featured a short version of a new documentary film – The Sharp Edge of Peace – on the participation of four Afghan women leaders in the Doha talks prior to the Taliban takeover. Introducing the film, actress and activist Meryl Streep said, "the way that this culture, this society has been upended is a cautionary tale for the rest of the world. In the 70s. Most of the civil servants were women. Over half the teachers, doctors, there were women, jurists, lawyers. In every profession. And then the world upended. And today in Kabul, a female cat has more freedoms than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face. She may chase a squirrel into the park. 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. A bird may sing in Kabul. But a girl may not. And a woman may not in public. This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law."