The Taliban has issued its latest pronouncement on women. Women must not be visible from house windows. If they’re in a kitchen with a window, they must stay away from it. On no account must they be seen from the outside. Not content with depriving them of all political and civic rights, imprisoning them from head to toe in cloth, preventing them from being outside at all, other than with a male relative, forbidding their voices from being heard – even in prayer – or speaking to other women, the Taliban have now decided that women and girls must be literally hidden away unseen in the home. Afghan women and girls are unable to work, receive an education, sing, dance, make music, play sport, go outside, take exercise, speak with other women, or have access to social media. If they break these rules, they are beaten or whipped. Stoning has been reintroduced. They cannot be educated at all. If ill, they cannot be treated by male doctors. But since women cannot become doctors or nurses, they will have no medical care at all. They will suffer and die. Their only role is to provide sexual services to the husbands they are sold to as children, bear children and be domestic slaves. It is a living death. Working animals are treated better.

It scarcely matters whether this is mandated by whatever version of Islam the Taliban follows. What the Taliban is doing is an expression of the most profound male hatred of – and contempt for – women, whatever religious, cultural, historical or social veneer is applied to justify or explain it. It is not the only expression of such hatred in our world but it is certainly the most evil.

What can other countries do to change this? Nothing. There will be no invasion. There is little diplomatic contact – at least with Western countries. Aid agencies must comply with the Taliban’s rules or be banned. It is their only chance of preventing starvation. Sanctions may have negligible effects on a country as poor as Afghanistan. Sanctions could be applied to the Taliban’s leaders, who travel to Middle Eastern countries and, reportedly, educate their own daughters there. But that is in the hands of those states. For all their claims that the Taliban’s interpretation is un-Islamic, they are unlikely to take any action against Taliban leaders or their money. Women may be treated a bit better there but they don’t matter.

But there is one thing we in the UK could do. It will not change anything but it will at least show that when we talk about women’s rights these are more than mere words. It will express our revulsion at what the Taliban is doing, for our own self-respect, if nothing else, and as a gesture – feeble undoubtedly – but something to show Afghan women and girls that they have not been forgotten. It will, of course, involve a small sacrifice on our part. But what is the point of a gesture without it.

Cricket is hugely popular in Afghanistan and its cricket team has been doing well in international matches. On February 26, the England cricket team is due to play Afghanistan’s male cricket team. In Afghanistan. Jonathon Trott, a former member of England’s cricket team and the ICC’s and ECB’s cricketer of the year in 2011, is the Afghanistan team’s coach. He is being paid by them. Why? Does he not know who he is working for? Is there really no other coaching role he could take? Why is England playing a team from such a country?

Australia is refusing to play cricket against Afghanistan. South Africa was boycotted during its apartheid years. There are plenty of demands for boycotts, divestments and so on for all sorts of countries which behave badly. But the English cricket authorities think that travelling to such a country, playing with its national team at such a time is perfectly fine. It is not. If it costs the English cricket team some points and a lost match, if it costs a coach some money, tough. Taliban-run Afghanistan should not be allowed to enjoy the benefits, the kudos, the applause, the validation of being part of an international sport while it behaves with such barbarity to its female population. If that upsets Afghan men who love the sport, too bad. They will have to learn to accept the consequences of having a regime which treats their mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, nieces, aunts and cousins so inhumanely. Women matter. Afghan women and girls matter. They matter more than cricket.

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