Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the fictional Republic of Gilead, a dictatorial government in the USA. While Atwood’s work is often lauded for its stark warning against authoritarianism and the erosion of women’s rights, the reality unfolding in Afghanistan today surpasses fiction in its severity. For some, it feels less like a prediction of the future and more like a grim reflection of the present.

The reality of morals in what is happening is often lost amongst political debate and religious differences. The Handmaid’s Tale shocks audiences due to its polarization of familiar culture in a Western setting, but that aside, the rules for women under Taliban rule in Afghanistan are gravely parallel.

Seen (barely) and  not heard 

The first notable similarity between Atwood’s tale and the harrowing reality for Afghan women is the decay of their mere presence in society. However, a haunting notion is that even the handmaid’s have more freedom under Gilead’s rule. While women must not engage in ‘male talk’, under the Taliban, women’s voices must not be heard in public at all, and if a woman is heard singing even within her own home, she will be punished for violating the law. But that isn’t everything…

In the fictional sphere, women wear uniforms based on societal status and reproductive ability. However, despite the handmaid’s wearing white face coverings, their faces can still be seen, which can’t be said about the reality for Afghan women. Under the Taliban, women must be entirely covered, including their faces, and they are forbidden to look at any man who isn’t their husband or a relative. These regulations serve solely to diminish women’s presence as beings, unlike the women in Gilead, who, despite horrific treatment, have some role or purpose within society.

Much like the imagined sphere, Afghan women are expected to adhere to the religious standards set for them, heterosexuality is forced, and they are subject to multiple forms of gender based violence.

No education

The withering of women’s liberty in their homeland does not diminish their existence, though the Taliban have tried. For the second time in history, women in Afghanistan are banned from attending schools and learning to read and write. This cruel act has a trickle-down effect, as women are no longer allowed to train to work, including in roles such as midwifery, a job the men are barred from doing, leaving Afghan women and girls unable to access medical care. This is a step further than Atwood’s dystopia, which forbids (most) women from reading and writing. However, certain women, such as the Aunts, do have access to some education, and women’s health during pregnancy and birth is protected and cherished.

A lack of freedom

In both the invented Gilead and the extremist Islamic state’s treatment of women is barbaric, but the rules for women under the Taliban are truly atonishing. As actress Meryl Streep pointed out in a statement back in September 2024, an Afghan woman has fewer rights in their country than a cat or squirrel, as the feline creatures can sit outside with their faces in the sun and the tree-dwelling rodent can enter public parks, while women cannot. The reduction of women to less than animals goes beyond the acts of any fictional regime, so where is the outrage?

The difference between the two

A substantial difference between Afghanistan’s rule and Gilead is the aid from neighboring countries. In The Handmaid’s Tale, the women who escape Gilead to Canada are welcomed with open arms and given support to find other family members who may have escaped. While, of course, it is much easier to manage population when it’s fictional, to contrast, up to three million Afghans are faced with the threat of deportation from the neighbouring country of Pakistan, in which they have sought refuge.

What now?

With calls for an investigation into gender persecution as a crime against humanity, the Taliban continue to affirm that their treatment of women is according to their interpretation of Islamic law, making it difficult to call out the cruelty. It is undeniable that the horrors for women and girls in Afghanistan feel like a nightmareish fiction, but if novels like The Handmaid’s Tale are a warning, then what happens when that warning doesn’t work…