NYT: Women left trapped in Afghan quake as Taliban forbids "physical contact" with non-family members

During the devastating earthquake in Afghanistan, rescuers assisted only men, The New York Times reported.

According to the outlet, the Taliban’s strict rules — which forbid any physical contact between men and women who are not family members — meant that women trapped under rubble were effectively ignored.

Rescuers arrived in the village of Bibi Aisha more than 36 hours after the quake, but none of them were women. “Instead of bringing relief, their arrival deepened fear: there was not a single woman among the rescuers,” NYT wrote.

Women trapped under the ruins had to wait for assistance from other women in neighbouring villages, which drastically reduced their chances of survival.

According to the latest data, 2,200 people were killed and around 3,600 injured in the earthquake.

In Afghanistan, strict cultural and religious norms, enforced by the Taliban government, mean that only a woman’s close male relative — her father, brother, husband or son — is permitted to touch her. The same applies in reverse: Women are not allowed to touch men outside their family. In disaster zones, female rescuers are restricted from assisting men. But a woman can pull unrelated women out from under debris.

By Khagan Isayev