BBC News: “I call on fathers to take the hands of their daughters and walk them to school, even if the gates are shut.” Professor Ismail Mashal, who runs a private university in Kabul, says he has had enough of the restrictions women face in Afghanistan. Slender and well dressed, he is a mixture of defiance and raw emotion. “Even if they’re not allowed in – they should do this daily. It’s the least they can do to prove they are men,” he tells me, holding back tears. “This is not me being emotional – this is pain. Men must stand up and defend the rights of Afghan women and girls.”
In December the Taliban government announced female students at universities would no longer be allowed back – until further notice. Click here to read more (external link).