Rule after rule: how women are treated in Taliban

Hidden faces and a ban on speaking

The government of Afghanistan, where the Taliban has been in power since 2021, has issued its first declaration of laws on vice and virtue. Much of it is devoted to women's rights, or rather to new and unprecedented prohibitions. Afghan women are now officially banned from appearing in public with their faces uncovered, and the female voice has been declared an 'intimate thing', so they should not talk outside the home. The UN has previously described the situation as "gender apartheid".

The situation of women's rights in Afghanistan, which was already considered catastrophic, continues to deteriorate. 21 August. The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, created under the Taliban (which, incidentally, occupied the premises of the abolished Ministry of Women's Affairs), issued a 114-page declaration covering citizens' daily lives. The document, which the supreme leader of the Taliban approved, Hibatullah Akundzada, was once again a blow to the women of the country.

For example, they were officially banned from appearing in public places without covering their faces to "avoid other temptations and seductions". In addition, their clothes should not be thin, short or tight, writes the Associated Press, citing the legal code^[1].

Women must cover up in front of all strange men, both Muslim and non-Muslim, to avoid fornication. They are also forbidden to look at men with whom they are not related by blood or married. However, this rule also works in the opposite direction.

But that is not all. Women have lost the right to have a voice - it has been recognised as an "intimate matter". Women should no longer be heard singing, reciting or reading aloud in public. Afghan women were banned from traveling alone on public transport, including taxis.

"We assure you that this Islamic law will go a long way in promoting virtue and eradicating vice," said ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Gafar Farooq.

The UN has already criticized the new regime in Afghanistan because, in the future, the morality inspectorate can threaten and detain anyone based on extensive and sometimes vague lists of violations.

"This expands the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, where even a woman's voice outside the home is considered a violation of morality," said Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

Just like in the Middle Ages - education for boys only

The situation for girls and women in the country changed dramatically for the worse when the Taliban took power in 2021. According to a report by Amnesty International, they were banned from traveling more than 45 miles (72 km) from home without a male escort, from participating in sporting events, and from visiting public parks.

In addition, nearly 4,500 Afghan women were dismissed from their positions in the education sector in June and July last year. Beauty salons in the country have been forcibly closed and more than 80% of women journalists have left between 2021 and 2023^[2].

According to UNESCO data released on 15 August, 1.4 million girls in the country have been deliberately denied access to schooling beyond the sixth grade. The organization also noted that access to primary education has declined, with 1.1 million girls and boys in Afghanistan losing access to primary school.

"Afghanistan is the only country in the world that prohibits girls and women over the age of 12 from attending school. This situation can only be of great concern. The right to education cannot be negotiated or compromised," stressed UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azul.

Medical assistance is only a dream

The education ban has also hit the healthcare system, with many female doctors leaving the country. Moreover, in Afghanistan, it is not acceptable for a woman to be seen by a male doctor, and without a male companion, she cannot be taken to hospital.

As a result, there have been many cases where women have been unable to leave their homes during periods of labor and childbirth because there was no guardian. The situation became so critical that Afghan women could finally attend a two-year midwifery course^[3].

In the two largest cities, Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif, the sale of contraceptives is banned, and women's sexual health can only be discussed if a male guardian is nearby.

In March, the Taliban leader indicated that women in Afghanistan would be stoned for adultery. Asked to comment on this situation in an interview with RTVI, the Russian President's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, said this was an internal matter.