The Meryl Streep has joined the voice of women in Afghanistan who are calling on the Taliban to lift the severe restrictions imposed on them, saying even “a squirrel has more rights” than a girl in the Asian country.

The Taliban have implemented a strict interpretation of Islamic law since they returned to power in the country in August 2021 after the withdrawal of US and other Western forces.

Women and girls gradually lost access to public parks, the ability to attend university and sing in public. The United Nations speaks directly of “gender apartheid.”

“A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the Taliban have banned women and girls from access to public parks,” the American actress commented during a panel discussion on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“A bird can sing in Kabul, but not a girl or a woman in public,” the Oscar-winning actress continued.

“I feel that the international community as a whole, if they join forces, can affect change in Afghanistan and stop the slow suffocation of half the population,” she said.

The Taliban government, which has yet to be recognized by another country, released a new law in August that was widely criticized for making even tighter restrictions on women’s lives.

Although many of the measures had been unofficially imposed since the Taliban took over in 2021, their formal codification has sparked outcry from the international community and human rights advocacy organizations.