Afghanistan, April 24 -- The U.S. State Department asserts it's pressuring the Taliban alongside allies and partners to rescind discriminatory laws against Afghan women and girls.

It states that any significant steps toward normalizing relations with the Taliban are contingent upon a profound change in their behaviour.

The State Department wrote in its annual report on the status of women in Afghanistan that the Taliban have effectively excluded women from the public sphere with their directives.

The report highlights widespread violations of women's rights and sexual violence against them. In one section, it mentions that 16 women out of 90 imprisoned women in Jawzjan, Faryab, and Samangan became pregnant after being raped by Taliban ...