As the Taliban regains its foothold on the Afghanistan capital of Kabul, women across the country are sitting, waiting – many hiding – in fear. But not all women are willing to conform to the archaic mandates previously enforced by the militant group.

"I have no intention of getting [a burqa]. I don't want to hide behind a curtain-like cloth," 26-year-old university student Habiba​ told The Guardian.

"If I wear the burqa, it means that I have accepted the Taliban's government. I have given them the right to control me. Wearing a chador [burqa] is the beginning of my sentence as a prisoner in my house. I'm afraid of losing the accomplishments I fought for so hard."

In 20 years, Afghanistan had evolved from an oppressive state for women into a Western-influenced country where women and girls enjoyed the freedom to wear what they want, go to school and hold a job.

Under the Taliban's previous rule, which saw a strict version of Sharia law enforced, women were required to wear a chadari​ – a blue, heavy-clothed, full-lengthed Afghan burqa with a mesh window at the eyes – every time they left the house.

Young women were also forced to marry soldiers, they weren't allowed to be educated or employed and were confined to their homes, only able to leave if accompanied by a male guardian.

More than half of the country's population (63.7 per cent) were under the age of 25, according to the United Nations Population Fund. This meant most women were too young to remember what life was like under Taliban rule, or weren't even born yet.

Habiba, 26, was staying up late at night worrying about what might happen.

"I'm afraid that because I am rejecting the burqa, soon I will have to stay home, and I will lose my independence and freedom.

"But if I accept the burqa, it will exercise power over me. I am not ready to let that happen."

Model, designer and business owner Amul​ never thought she would have to wear a burqa. She likened wearing one to having her identity removed.

"It's like my identity is about to be scrubbed out."

Some women were being vocal about their opposition to those oppressive requirements being reinstated.

Muska Dastageer,​ a lecturer from the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, tweeted to a member of the Taliban's negotiating team that women would not hide.

"Afghans are done being victims. Afghan women will not hide. We will not be afraid. The glare of the whole world is on Afghanistan, on Kabul, on Taliban and what they do."

https://twitter.com/DastageerMuska/status/1426846057145815041

Aisha Khurram, who was the Afghan Youth Representative to the United Nations in 2019, told Bloomberg the younger generation of women were coding and were "so brilliant", but they were now sitting at home wondering what would happen.

"I do not know what will happen to the younger generation of Afghan women ... This generation formed the modern Afghanistan."

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday the Government wanted to see human rights "upheld".

"We want to see women and girls being able to access work and education. These are things that traditionally have not been available to them when there has been governance by the Taliban."

The group had claimed its "policy" had changed to allow women and girls education and employment, and it denied on social media that young women were forced to marry soldiers. But Professor Robert Patman​, a University of Otago international relations professor, told TVNZ on Monday it appeared the old policies were still being practised.

"[There are] all indications they're trying to go back to their old policies, and this is a tragedy for the country."

Lived experiences from recent days supported Patman's view.

One woman named Fatima, 22, told female-run local media outlet Rukhshana Media via The Guardian that a young girl in her village in Ghazni "ended her life" rather than going with the group after it entered their village.

One divorced woman living in Kabul, who spoke to media under the pseudonym Tahira, admitted this would be her only option if she was forced into marriage.

"If they come for us like this, then we will end our lives. It will be the only option for us."

Reports had already emerged of women being turned away from universities in Herat​, the third-largest city in Afghanistan.

Education and equality advocate Malala Yousafzai​, who was shot by the Taliban for wanting an education, wrote on Twitter she was "deeply worried" about women, minorities and human rights advocates in Afghanistan.

Journalists, especially female reporters, were already being targeted and running for their lives. A journalist, who penned an anonymous article for The Guardian, explained how she was on the run and in hiding, with the help of her uncle.

"I am still on the run and there is no safe place for me to go ... My whole life has been obliterated in just a few days."

The 22-year-old reporter said she could do nothing but keep running and hope a route out of the province opened up for her soon.

"Please pray for me," she wrote.

A meeting would be taking place with Taliban and Afghan government leaders in Doha to negotiate a peaceful transfer of power.

The militant group had instructed its fighters to stay at the gates of Kabul until talks concluded, but soldiers and the group's leaders had already taken the presidential palace and raised their flag above it.