CNN —When award-winning actress Meryl Streep spoke on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly about cats, squirrels and birds, she wasn’t making a point about hunters and prey. She was comparing all three with women and girls in Afghanistan – and pointing out that the animals have more rights. Wail Kohsar/AFP/Getty Images/FileTightening restrictionsSince taking power, the Taliban has gradually tightened restrictions on women and girls. The Taliban’s latest edicts last month, referred to by Streep, include the demand for women and girls to remain silent in public. After the Taliban banned women’s voices in public, some posted videos of themselves to social media, singing in defiance.

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Persons: Meryl Streep, ” Streep, Penny Wong, Wail Kohsar, Streep, –, Julia Demaree Nikhinson, CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Fawzia, Amanpour, ”, ” Fereshta Abbasi Organizations: CNN, United Nations General Assembly, Women, Getty, Taliban, UN, Rights Watch, International Court of Justice, United Nations, Human Rights Locations: Afghanistan, Kabul, Germany, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, United States, New York, Afghan, Baharak, Badakhshan province, AFP, The Hague, CEDAW, “