The Hon Aileen MacDonald today condemned the repression of women and girls in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

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Ms MacDonald said it was reprehensible that women and girls in Afghanistan are denied basic rights and freedoms, such as a right to education, personal autonomy, and participation in public life.

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“This is the stuff of the Dark Ages, nothing more than violations of basic human rights,” Ms MacDonald said today. (dZo I want to say today – I know it refers to my speech – should I be saying ‘said when she addressed the Legislative Council during a Private Member’s Statement;?)

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Ms MacDonald said Australia cannot sit idly by and allow Afghan women and girls be stripped of their voices, their basic liberties, and their dreams and aspirations under a regime which treats them as second-class citizens.

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“How can we as a nation not speak up about the barbaric way these women and girls are not only stripped of their voices but forced into marriage and sexual slavery masked as matrimony to Taliban fighters, “she said.

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“The have waged a relentless campaign to erase women from public life and have banned them from school beyond the sixth grade.”

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Ms MacDonald called on the NSW Parliament and the Federal Parliament to stand up saying that by not doing (something is missing here) anything, Australia as a nation relegates itself to blind acceptance.

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“As a proud Australian woman, I am grateful for the liberties I enjoy, but I refuse to turn my back on these women and children who are denied fundamental freedoms and are virtually forced to ask for permission to exist,” she said.

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“There’s not other word for it, it’s barbaric and we need to speak up for them.”