An Afghan assembly to discuss peace with the Taliban has been criticised for making female delegates feel unwelcome, with one woman told she “should be in the kitchen”.

The assembly, known as a loyal jirga, was convened by President Ashraf Ghani to debate Afghanistan’s path to peace. Organisers said that around 30 per cent of the 3,200 delegates were women.

But several female delegates said they felt ignored, marginalised or patronised. They were told that men should lead the jirga’s 51 committees and women should serve as secretaries.

Some women complained that they were groped and fondled – not by men, but by women who patted them down during security checks.

On the second day of the assembly, a female delegate who rose to speak was ordered to be quiet by a male delegate.

Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyan’s destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital city’s addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and women’s rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Qur’an. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein

“He told her: ‘Peace has nothing to do with you. Sit down, you should be in the kitchen cooking!’” said Behnoh Benod, 31, a male delegate who witnessed the put-down.

Other women said they had been confronted by male delegates who claimed to support women’s rights, but only under sharia, or Islamic law – a view shared by the Taliban.

“I asked them which sharia law, the Taliban sharia law or Isis sharia law,” said a delegate, Sakina Hussaini, referring to the Islamic State.

“Some men didn’t accept women as human beings and I had to scream at them,” she said.

Male delegate Behnoh Benod said just 16 of the delegates on his 108-member committee were women. A male delegate was selected as committee chair. Of the 51 committees, 13 were headed by women, and 28 elected women as committee secretaries.

For many women, the jirga got off to a bad start when Ms Ghani appointed as chairman Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, a combative former warlord known for his harsh views on women’s rights.

When a female delegate complained directly to Mr Sayyaf , she was hustled out by security guards. Other delegates hooted and clapped to drown out her protest.

State-run television RTA, which broadcast the proceedings, posted a banner on Twitter showing images of Mr Ghani and Sher Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, the chief Taliban peace negotiator.

Beside them were photos of two women with their faces covered – one by a niqab, a veil that leaves the eyes visible, and the other by a burqa, the garment forced upon women under the Taliban regime that was toppled in 2001.

After a torrent of complaints on social media, a new banner appeared. Ghani and Stanekzai were still depicted, but four smiling women wearing head scarves that left their faces uncovered were added to the two with their faces concealed.

On Monday, as the jirga opened, some female delegates arrived dressed in burqas.

“Most of these women have come from provinces and they have no idea why they are here,” said delegate Taiyaba Khavari.

Ms Khavari and other women said they grew disillusioned as they were insulted or interrupted by male delegates.

Torpekai, 45, a delegate who goes by one name, said she had been pleased to be among war victims invited to Kabul. She said her 18-year-old son, a police officer, had been killed by the Taliban.

Torpekai said she had planned to tell delegates that she wanted the Taliban punished if a peace deal gave them a role in a postwar government. But the men who dominated the jirga did not bother to listen.

“No one would hear me out,” Torpekai said. “They said women shouldn’t be here – this isn’t a discussion for women.”

It was not just women who felt disillusioned by the jirga. Social media lit up with comments from Afghans who dismissed the assembly as a patronage tool for Mr Ghani. Some critics said the jirga usurped Afghanistan’s parliament.

The government shut down the capital for five days, giving government workers the week off.

The jirga was caught up in a bruising presidential election campaign, in which Mr Ghani is struggling to stay relevant while his government is excluded from peace talks in Doha, Qatar, between the Taliban and the United States. The militants refuse to meet with the government, calling it illegitimate.

Jirga organisers said it was an effective exercise in grassroots democracy that incorporated a wide range of Afghan society. Among the delegates were urban and rural residents, victims of war and terrorism, young people, traditional elders, and ulema, or Islamic religious scholars.

Organisers said that with the government sidelined at the peace talks, the jirga produced a national consensus on conditions for peace with the Taliban. The assembly’s recommendations are not legally binding.

“It’s our sacred tradition,” said Mohammed Umer Daudzai, who organised the gathering. “I doubt that anybody will say consensus building or dialogue is a bad idea.”

At the close of the jirga on Friday, Mr Ghani accepted its recommendation to seek a ceasefire, a goal of the Doha peace negotiations. He urged the Taliban to negotiate within Afghanistan and said he would release 175 Taliban prisoners.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

Among other recommendations accepted by Mr Ghani was a demand that any postwar government honour the Afghan constitution and protect the rights of women and children. He thanked the delegates, “especially the women”.

One delegate, Wazhma Tukhi, 25, said she was satisfied. “The constitution protects our rights, and that’s all Afghan women want,” she said.

But another, Masuma Bahar, 24, said the jirga should have made a stronger case for preserving women’s gains over the past 18 years. “There were women on the board and they should have raised their voices, but they haven’t done anything,” she said.