Restrictions on Afghan women
Foreign Policy, August 22, 2024
Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, established by the country’s Taliban rulers, issued new laws on Wednesday prohibiting women’s voices and bare faces from being heard or seen in public. Specifically, women must wear face coverings at all times; are not allowed to look at men to whom they are not related (and vice versa); and cannot sing, recite, or read aloud, as a woman’s voice is considered intimate. The Taliban said the bans are to better follow their strict interpretation of Islamic law.
“Afghanistan was no paradise for women even before the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021,” FP columnist Lynne O’Donnell wrote last July. But misogyny and inequality have worsened since the group took control.
The day before, the Taliban announced that it had destroyed more than 21,300 musical instruments in the past year and prevented thousands of computer operators from selling “immoral and unethical” films at local markets. The group also said it had dismissed more than 280 members of its security forces for failing to grow a beard.
