Tracy Gilbert – Usdaw’s Regional Secretary for Scotland says: “We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Taliban’s decision to indefinitely ban women in Afghanistan from entering University education. Women have spoken of having had their dreams and futures crushed and of feeling distraught, terrified and hopeless.  

“We also have grave concerns that the Taliban has now banned women from working for non-government organisations, who are providing valuable assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable in Afghanistan. That is another alarming restriction on the fundamental freedoms and human rights of women and girls.

“We are looking for the support of Conference this weekend to send a strong message of solidarity to women and girls in Afghanistan and strongly condemn the Taliban’s oppression of the rights and freedoms of women and girls. We are also calling on Scottish Labour to support the continuing efforts of women’s organisations in Afghanistan to resist and reverse the restrictions imposed on them.”

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades.

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion