The Taliban has issued a new decree in Afghanistan, imposing severe restrictions on women’s public behavior and appearance. The 114-page document, comprising 35 articles, was approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and represents the most comprehensive codification of the group’s Vice and Virtue laws since they regained power in 2021.
Under the new rules, women are forbidden from speaking or singing aloud in public, reciting poetry, or even raising their voices inside their homes. They are also prohibited from looking at men to whom they are not related by blood or marriage. The decree mandates that women cover their faces and bodies entirely in public, avoiding clothing that is short, tight, or made from thin materials.
These regulations further diminish the already restricted freedoms of Afghan women, who have been barred from attending school beyond the age of 12 and from most public and private sector jobs. The laws also extend to other aspects of daily life, such as banning music in public transport and requiring strict observance of prayer times. Men are also affected, with regulations prohibiting them from shaving their beards or trimming them below a certain length.
The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is empowered to enforce these rules, with penalties ranging from warnings and short-term imprisonment to the seizure of property. The ministry, already criticized by the United Nations for contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation, has dismissed these concerns.
These new laws have sparked alarm among human rights activists, who see them as part of a broader effort to suppress women’s participation in public life entirely. The United Nations has condemned the Taliban’s ongoing human rights abuses, with Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on Afghan human rights, calling the new restrictions a “step backward.” The Taliban, however, has rebuffed these criticisms, accusing the U.N. of spreading “propaganda” and banning Bennett from entering the country.
The latest decree underscores the Taliban’s continued push to impose their strict interpretation of Islamic law on Afghan society, further isolating women and curbing basic freedoms in the war-torn nation.
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