All 24 women senators urge Biden to create a plan to protect the 'basic human rights' of Afghan women and girls

• All 24 women senators are urging Biden to take steps to preserve the rights of Afghan women and girls.
• The Taliban has barred many women and girls from school and the workforce.

A bipartisan letter signed by all 24 women senators was sent to President Joe Biden on Thursday, urging him to do more to protect Afghan women and girls with the Taliban firmly back in control of Afghanistan.

"In the wake of the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, we write to urge your Administration to develop an interagency plan to preserve the political, economic, social, and basic human rights of Afghan women and girls. This plan should also address how the United States will lead international organizations, such as the United Nations, in holding the Taliban accountable," the bipartisan group of senators wrote.

"American disengagement from Afghanistan puts at risk hard-won gains for Afghan women and girls," the letter added. "You have committed to press the Taliban to uphold the rights of women and girls, and you have stated that America will maintain an enduring partnership with the people of Afghanistan resisting Taliban rule. We will advise, support, and enable those efforts through legislation and engagement with your Administration. Afghan women and girls need our action now."

A spokesperson for the National Security Council told Insider that the White House that, "No society can succeed if half of its population is left out, and Afghanistan can have neither security nor prosperity if its women and girls are not afforded opportunities to be fully included in society."

"The United States will continue to support Afghan women and girls," the spokesperson added. "We, along with the world, will make clear that any nation that wants international legitimacy or connection to the rest of the world - and that does not want to be deemed a pariah state - must not interfere with the universal human rights or fundamental freedoms of its people, and should demonstrate respect for and inclusion of women and girls, in all their diversity, including supporting their education and employment opportunities.

"We are closely watching the Taliban's actions across the country, and will work with Congress and with our allies and partners to support women and girls, and promote accountability for the perpetrators of human rights abuses and violations."

When the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in mid-August amid the final days of the US pullout, it immediately sparked fears that the militant Islamist group would return the country to the dark days of the late 1990s.

There were especially strong concerns about the implications for women and girls. During the Taliban's first stint in power, from 1996 to 2001, they imposed strict rules based on a fundamentalist interpretation of Islam. The laws were upheld in a brutal fashion, including public executions. Women were prohibited from receiving an education or appearing in public without a male chaperone and full body coverings.

Since taking over in August, the Taliban has allowed some girls in certain provinces to return to school, but hundreds of thousands have not been able to resume their studies. The Taliban in most districts has barred girls aged 12 through 17 from going back to school.

The militant group has also taken steps to block women from the workforce, while cracking down on women-led protests.

The Taliban has sought to present a more moderate face now that it controls the country again, but the wider world remains deeply skeptical amid reports of human rights abuses and oppressive behavior toward women in particular.

"Lacking a legitimate Afghan government and military forces to protect them, women and girls are now suffering the predations of a Taliban regime with a track record of brutalizing, isolating, and denying them life and liberty," the senators wrote to Biden in the letter on Thursday.

"Taliban leaders who promised that women would be treated well under the new government are not upholding those commitments," the letter went on to say. "Women have been the victims of targeted beatings and killings and are banned from leaving home without a male guardian. Afghanistan's former government, while flawed, was bound by a constitution that promoted human rights, and freedom of speech and assembly for both women and men."

The senators called for the Biden administration to provide a briefing on its plan to help protect the rights of Afghan women and girls.

Biden has faced bipartisan criticism over his handling of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which coincided with the Taliban takeover. The last US troops departed Afghanistan in late August after a chaotic evacuation process, during which an ISIS-K attack killed 13 US service members and around 170 Afghans. Biden has defended the pullout by pointing to the fact the Trump administration set the stage for the withdrawal by making a deal with the Taliban, and by contending that it was long past time for the US war in Afghanistan to end.