(CNN) – When award-winning actress Meryl Streep spoke on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly about cats, squirrels and birds, she wasn’t talking about hunters and prey.
He was comparing the three of them to the women and girls of Afghanistan, and pointing out that animals have more rights.
“A cat can feel the sun on its face. You can chase a squirrel in the park… A bird can sing in Kabul, but a girl cannot, and a woman cannot sing in public. “This is extraordinary,” Streep said Monday. “This is a suppression of natural law. “This is strange.”
As Streep’s words bounced around social media, four countries stepped forward to announce “unprecedented” measures against the ruling Taliban for their “systematic oppression” of women and girls.
Germany, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands accused the hardline Islamist group on Thursday of violating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
The Convention was ratified by the previous Afghan government in 2003, long before the Taliban regained power three years ago, following the withdrawal of the United States and its allies after 20 years of war.
“We know that women and girls in Afghanistan are being effectively excluded from public life by the various edicts that the Taliban have issued,” Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters in New York.
“The steps we are taking with Germany, Canada and the Netherlands are unprecedented.”
Since taking power, the Taliban has gradually tightened restrictions on women and girls.
They can no longer work or study beyond the sixth grade. They must have their bodies completely covered and are prohibited from looking at men to whom they are not related by blood or marriage and vice versa.
The latest Taliban edicts from last month, which Streep referred to, include demands that women and girls remain silent in public.
Under the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islam, a woman’s voice is considered intimate and therefore should not be heard singing, reciting or reading aloud.
This systematic oppression of women and girls, also denounced by the UN, fueled a mental health crisis in Afghanistan’s female population.
Depression among women and girls is on the rise, according to health experts and human rights activists, leading to a rise in suicides and suicide attempts.
Human Rights Watch says the legal initiative by the four Western countries could lead to proceedings before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
As a signatory to CEDAW, Afghanistan is expected to respond to the demand.
However, the document was signed by the previous government and, until now, the Taliban have shown no signs of changing their position despite international condemnation.
In a statement Thursday, a Taliban spokesman said it was “absurd” to accuse Afghan leaders of gender discrimination.
“Human rights are protected in Afghanistan and no one is discriminated against,” said Hamdullah Fitrat Fitrat.
“Unfortunately, attempts are being made to spread propaganda against Afghanistan through the mouths of some women and make the situation look wrong.”
In New York, Streep told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that she felt moved to speak out on behalf of Afghan women and girls because the Taliban’s actions are “like the erasure of an entire gender.”
Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan parliamentarian, told Amanpour that the Taliban “did not understand that Afghanistan was transformed.”
Despite the Taliban’s efforts to erase them, she said women are fighting to have their voices heard.
After the Taliban banned women’s voices in public, some posted videos of themselves on social media singing in defiance.
“It is a sign of a different Afghanistan that the Taliban does not understand,” Koofi said. “Today, every woman in Afghanistan is a journalist, every woman in Afghanistan is like television, talking about what they experienced.”
Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the action by Germany and its partners may mark the beginning of the path to justice for the Taliban’s “egregious human rights violations against Afghan women and girls.”
“It is vitally important that other countries register their support for this action and involve Afghan women as the process progresses,” she said.
CNN’s Ehsan Popalzai contributed reporting.
