Washington, DC – Today, Democratic Women’s Caucus Co-Chairs Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14), Congresswoman Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Vice Chairs Congresswomen Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging him to take action against the Taliban for restricting girls’ access to secondary school, despite promises to continue education for women in Afghanistan.
“The Taliban’s decision to restrict high-school aged girls from receiving an education threatens to undo decades of hard-won education gains for the Afghan people and forces women to fall behind their male peers,” the Members wrote. “… The United States and our international partners must clearly signal that restricting girls’ education damages Afghanistan’s credibility on the international stage.”
The Members specifically asked President Biden “…to use all leverage at your disposal to defend girls’ educational gains and prioritize women and girls’ rights in your engagement in the region, including all diplomatic and economic negotiations with the Taliban. Specifically, we urge you to work with multilateral organizations and regional partners to establish consequences should the Taliban fail to reopen secondary schools for girls in a timely manner… .”
Last year, DWC leadership cosponsored Chair Frankel’s Keeping Girls in School Act, which is dedicated to closing the global gender gap and keeping girls in school when they are most at risk of dropping out.
A copy of the letter can be found here.