This is the heartwarming moment an Afghan woman taught women and children in Kandahar, Afghanistan, despite the brutal Taliban rule taking hold.

The female health educator was filmed wearing a burqa as she spoke to locals in the southern Afghan city on September 3.

The future of women’s rights in Afghanistan has come into question following the Taliban takeover on August 15. Human rights advocates fear the return of restrictive and draconian policies enforced by the hardline Islamist group two decades ago.

The Taliban warlords were quick to allay these concerns in their August 17 press conference, vowing to uphold equal rights for women ‘within the framework of Islamic law’.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: ‘We are going to allow women to work and study. We have got frameworks, of course. Women are going to be very active in the society but within the framework of Islam.’

Defiant Afghan women have taken to the streets in the weeks that followed, demanding to be allowed to study and go to work. The latest of these protests was held in the western city of Herat, where groups of Herati women called on the Taliban to clarify their policies regarding women’s rights.

Mariam Ebram, a demonstrator who attended the march, said: ‘After weeks of trying to engage with the Taliban at all levels, the women decided to make their voices heard publicly.’

She added: ‘We tried talking to them, but we saw that other than the Taliban of 20 years ago, there was no one there. There was no change.’