Afghanistan's Virtue and Vices Administration

"Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear."

"How could they be allowed to sing if they aren’t even permitted to hear [each other’s] voices while praying, let alone for anything else."

"[These are] new rules and will be gradually implemented, and God will be helping us in each step we take."

Afghan Minister of Vice and Virtue, Mohammed Khalid Hanafi

Taliban minister Khalid Hanafi said: “God will be helping us in each step we take” Credit: AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

"Whatever he says is a form of mental torture for us."

"Living in Afghanistan is incredibly painful for us as women. Afghanistan is forgotten, and that’s why they are suppressing us – they are torturing us on a daily basis."

"They say we cannot hear other women’s voices, and I do not understand where these views come from."

Afghan woman, Kabul

The Afghan regime has banned women from working outside the home or attending school and university Credit: MOHSEN KARIMI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Women and girls in Afghanistan have suffered yet another blow to their human rights. There does not appear to be anything left of their civic, civilian and feminine rights as human beings to be withdrawn from them. The Taliban minister of vice and virtue (shades of the Islamic Republic of Iran) issued a directive in the last week. Women must now no longer recite the Qur'an aloud in the presence of other women, for it is haram for their voices to be heard. "If a woman is not permitted to perform Takbit (reading from the Islamic holy book), then how could she be allowed to sing?" So singing is out as well.

According to strict Islam, the voice of a woman is considered awrah; that which must be covered and should not be heard in public, not heard even by other women, according to Minister Mohammad Khalid Hanafi. Known for his Islamist piety in the West, Hanafi is blacklisted by the United Nations (for what that's worth) and sanctioned by the European Union (which is doubtless of zero concern to the man, attuned to the sub-humanity of females).

From August 2021 when Western powers decamped from Afghanistan with their diplomats, their militaries and their human rights groups, and the Taliban moved from the hinterlands of Afghanistan into governing control of the entire country, a series of restrictions have been restored in reflection of how the Taliban ruled that poverty-stricken, benighted, backward country before 2001. Afghan girls are once again barred from attending middle and high schools and universities. They may not work in government and international non-governmental organizations, since 2021.

Social restrictions have been imposed such as the closure of beauty salons; women are prohibited from leaving their homes other than in the presence of a male guardian. When they do exit their home, they must cover their entire bodies and faces. 

"They [the Taliban] are waging an all-out war against us, and we have no one in the world to hear our voices."

"The world has abandoned us. They left us to the Taliban, and whatever happens to us now is a result of Western government policies."

"I feel depressed. The world is advancing in technology and having fun with their lives, but here we cannot even hear each other’s voices."

"They want us not to exist at all, and there’s nothing we can do about it."

"They may succeed at some point, as many are taking their lives due to the pressure."

"They think ruling Afghanistan is only about suppressing women – we didn’t commit a crime by being born as women."

Former female civil servant under previous Western-supported Afghan government

An Afghan woman searches for recyclable materials at a garbage dump on the outskirts of Mazar-i-Sharif     Credit: ATIF ARYAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

 

Taliban restrictions intensified in the past two months, recounted Samira, a midwife who traditionally goes by one name. Working in remote villages in western Herat province for eight years, she said female health workers are now forbidden by the Taliban from meeting with the male companions of female patients, complicating health services. "They don't even allow us to speak at checkpoints when we go to work. And in the clinics, we're told not to discuss medical maters with male relatives."

The United Nations special rapporteur of human rights in Afghanistan released a new report where the human rights situation in Afghanistan for women, children and minorities is detailed. A litany of edicts, rules and policies have been imposed, restricting virtually all aspects of women's and girls' lives. They are prevented from exercising fundamental rights; freedom of movement, education, work, health care, freedom of expression and access to justice.

"Other provisions further cement Taliban control over the lives, bodies and behaviour of women and girls."

"Women can be punished for singing or speaking outside their homes, while Muslim women are instructed to cover themselves in front of 'non-believing' women."

"Adult women and men who are not related are forbidden from looking at each other's bodies and faces."

Report, Richard Bennet, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan

Armed Taliban security personnel ride motorcycles during a street patrol   Credit: AFP/GETTY IMAGES