American Porn Star Whitney Wright Sparks Fury With Trip To Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Islamist Taliban rulers have banned education and most jobs for Afghan women, who are also barred from parks, gyms, and bathhouses.

They are not supposed to leave their houses without a male guardian and live under draconian Taliban morality laws.

With such constraints, Afghan women are furious after photos and videos emerged of an American porn actor visiting their country.

While the Taliban has not acknowledged the visit, adult film star Whitney Wright posted photos of her visit to an Afghan tourist landmark on her Instagram account.

"It is fundamentally hypocritical," said Wazhma Tokhi, an Afghan women's rights and education activist.

"Afghan women are imprisoned in their own homeland, while foreign visitors -- no matter their background -- are treated with hospitality," she added.

In recent years, Wright has visited the predominantly Muslim nations of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon.

RFE/RL's Radio Azadi couldn't reach the Taliban or Wright for comment.

The U.S. State Department currently advises Americans to "not travel to Afghanistan for any reason" because "multiple terrorist groups are active in Afghanistan and US citizens are targets of kidnapping and hostage-taking."

Wright would require a visa as a US citizen, although the Taliban's unrecognized government does not control the Afghan Embassy or consulates in the United States.

Wright

The Taliban has been keen on wooing foreign tourists to boost its international image and showcase the significant drop in violence in the country since it returned to power in August 2021.

Some Afghan women have said the Taliban is using female tourists to cultivate a positive image and highlight how safe the country is even for foreign women.

"This freedom is only for foreigners, not for Afghan women who are deprived of their most basic rights," Nasima Bidargar, an Afghan women's rights activist, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

'Gender Apartheid' In Afghanistan

After returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban immediately banned teenage girls from school.It closed the doors of universities and other seats of higher learning to women in December 2022. The extremist group has also banned women from working for international NGOs and other sectors.

Even public parks exclusively reserved for women and restaurants and cafes owned or frequented by women have been shut down by the Taliban regime.

In August 2024, the Taliban enacted a new morality law specifically targeting women by requiring them to be accompanied by a male chaperone in public while covering their faces. It also banned women from singing or even raising their voices in public.

Senior United Nations officials and Afghan female activists have termed the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women as a "gender apartheid."

In January, the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and the Taliban's Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani for bearing "criminal responsibility for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds."

Dressed in a black veil, Wright posted a video on Facebook of her walking in the snow near Band-e Amir. The famed crystal-blue lakes and soaring cliffs are one of the most popular national parks in Afghanistan's central province of Bamiyan. In August 2023, the Taliban banned Afghan women from the park.

"As an Afghan woman, this situation is harrowing for me," a female resident of Bamiyan told Radio Azadi.