Taliban’s Dystopian Rules Banning Afghan Women from Public Speaking Condemned

The Taliban has enacted a series of stringent laws that severely restrict the rights of women in Afghanistan, leading to widespread outrage among human rights advocates. These rules, which prohibit women from speaking or revealing any portion of their bodies in public, contribute to the ongoing gender apartheid imposed by the Taliban’s hardline regime.

Recently, the Taliban introduced their first formal regulations aimed at “preventing vice and promoting virtue” since seizing control in 2021. This new set of rules is detailed in a comprehensive 114-page document containing 35 articles.

According to these regulations, which have received approval from Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, women must now cover their bodies and faces completely with heavy clothing when in public.

Additionally, the laws ban women from allowing their voices to be heard in public, even within the confines of their own homes. This includes prohibitions against singing or reading aloud. Women are also barred from making direct eye contact with men who are not family members, while transportation services that carry unaccompanied women may face penalties.

Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, commented that these laws paint a “distressing vision” for the future of the country. She noted that they exacerbate the already dire restrictions placed on Afghan women and girls, positing that even the sound of a female voice is considered a moral violation.

The consequences for violating these regulations can be severe, encompassing a range of penalties such as verbal warnings, threats of divine punishment, property confiscation, and detention that can last from one hour to three days in public jails. Additional punishments may be enacted at the discretion of the authorities.

Human Rights Watch representatives Heather Bar and Sahar Fetrat voiced their concerns in a recent article, stating: “This isn’t a dystopian novel. This isn’t a story from history, either. It’s Afghanistan right now, and the Taliban’s crackdown on women and girls is steadily deepening.” They emphasized that Afghanistan is setting a concerning precedent for how oppressive conditions can become for women and girls.

One Afghan woman journalist, known as Elaha on social media, expressed her determination to fight for freedom, stating, “I will reach freedom again. We, the women and girls of Afghanistan, will fight for freedom against the Taliban as long as we live.”

The Taliban has responded to the international criticism directed at these new regulations with dismissiveness, branding such backlash as “arrogance.” Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s administration, urged others to gain a thorough understanding of the laws and respect the Islamic values they claim to represent.

Mujahid insisted that the concerns articulated globally would not alter the Taliban’s commitment to enforcing Islamic Sharia law.

Otunbayeva also highlighted the tremendous hardships faced by the Afghan populace, stating: “After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one.”

The Taliban’s approach draws heavily from their interpretation of Islamic law, now including education bans on girls above 11, restrictions on women’s public engagements and employment, and mandates for dress codes and male guardianship. Women are effectively excluded from most public life, experiencing reintroduced forms of punishment, such as flogging and stoning for perceived moral violations.

A woman from Kabul, who wished to remain anonymous, lamented, “Day by day, they are trying to erase women from society.”

Fawzia Koofi, an Afghan human rights activist, weighed in on the matter, saying, “The Taliban government does not have any sort of legitimacy and these new edicts designed to further erase and suppress women are an indication of their hatred towards women.”

Koofi emphasized the fear induced by such prohibitions, particularly the notion that women’s voices could be equated with intimacy, stating, “It is incredibly frightening yet the whole world acts like this is normal.”

Activist Elica Le Bon also expressed her distress at the new restrictions on social media, highlighting the emotional toll such changes inflict on Afghan women. She described it as a cruel infringement on dignity, stating, “Not even animals are treated with such cruelty, such dehumanization, such indignity, and such little value for human life.”

Her poignant remarks resonated widely, amassing over 30,000 likes on her post.