A cat may "feel the sun on her face" in a park but girls do not have such freedoms under the Taliban, she said.
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the actress pointed out that even animals had more rights now in Afghanistan following increased restrictions on women.
In response, a Taliban spokesman said they “highly respected” women and would “never compare them to cats”.
Streep’s comments come after the Taliban government last month introduced a new set of “morality laws”.
Among other things, these rules state that women’s voices can no longer be heard in public and that they are not allowed to look directly at men they are not related to by blood or marriage.
The measures add to a litany of restrictions that the regime has imposed on Afghan women and girls since returning to power three years ago.
Women have to completely cover their faces and bodies when leaving their homes. Women and girls are also prevented from going to schools, parks, gyms and sport clubs. There are restrictions on the type of work that they are allowed to do.
“Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a woman. A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face, she may chase a squirrel in the park,” Streep said on Monday at an event to raise awareness of Afghan women’s rights at the UN headquarters in New York.
We spent 20 years in Afghanistan and didn’t make a dent. While I agree what is happening in Afghanistan is deplorable, this is what Afghanistan wanted.
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We spent 20 years in Afghanistan and didn’t make a dent. While I agree what is happening in Afghanistan is deplorable, this is what Afghanistan wanted.
Do you think we went there to help people?
We went there to spend money on weapons. We succeeded.
Don’t be reductive. We also spent billions on cheap construction.