In a move that has drawn sharp international condemnation, the Taliban has issued new restrictions on women, further eroding the already limited rights of Afghan women under its rule. The new orders, part of a 114-page document made available to public, prohibit women from looking at men they do not know, speaking loudly in public or at home, and impose strict dress codes and behavioural restrictions that have sparked outrage across the country.
Among the most severe of the new decrees is the prohibition against women looking at men who are not their immediate family members. Women are also required to cover their faces at all times in public to “avoid temptation and tempting others.
In addition, women are now forbidden from speaking in the presence of men who are not their husbands or close relatives, severely limiting their ability to engage in public life. The document also dictates that women must wear clothing that is neither thin, tight, nor short, with all forms of public singing and recitation of the Koran also banned for women.
These measures are part of the Taliban’s broader campaign to control the daily lives of Afghan citizens, particularly women. Taxi drivers have been instructed not to transport women who are not wearing a hijab or who are traveling without a male guardian. The mixing of men and women in vehicles is also strictly prohibited. Violations of these rules could result in arrest and imprisonment, according to the Taliban’s statements.
Men have not been spared from these new restrictions either. They are now banned from looking at women’s faces in public, wearing tight or short clothing, or trimming or shaving their beards—a clear indication of the Taliban’s effort to enforce its version of Islamic law on all aspects of public and private life.
The new regulations have provoked widespread outrage among Afghan women, who have already seen many of their freedoms stripped away since the Taliban’s return to power. The group has previously banned women from working with aid agencies, entering parks, and traveling without a male guardian, among other restrictions.
International observers have criticized the Taliban government for pushing Afghanistan back into what some describe as the “stone age,” with its harsh, totalitarian rule. Critics have pointed to systemic human rights violations, a lack of accountability, and the exclusion of women from public life as hallmarks of the Taliban’s regime. The government’s strict enforcement of Sharia law and Pashtunwali, the traditional code of the Pashtun people, has drawn parallels to the most repressive periods in Afghanistan’s history.
As the world watches, the Afghan people, especially women, are left to grapple with a future increasingly dominated by the Taliban’s radical and uncompromising vision of society.
