Taliban silences Afghan women with new laws, bans public speaking

The new regulations of Taliban govt also ban publishing images of living beings, playing music, transporting solo female travellers, and mingling of unrelated men and women

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have imposed stringent new laws curbing women’s voices in public, deepening their restrictive grip on everyday life. The latest vice and virtue laws, approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and announced on Wednesday, target a wide array of activities, including public transportation, music, and celebrations, reported CNN.

Among the harsh regulations, Article 13 mandates that women must fully veil their bodies in public, ensuring face coverings to prevent ‘temptation’. Their clothing must not be thin, tight, or short. Women are further instructed to cover themselves even in front of non-Muslim men and women to avoid ‘corruption’. 

Additionally, the laws deem a woman’s voice too intimate to be heard in public spaces, effectively banning women from singing, reciting, or reading aloud. Women are also forbidden from looking at men who are not their close relatives, and vice-versa.

 

“Inshallah, we assure you that this Islamic law will greatly help in promoting virtue and eliminating vice,” said ministry spokesman Maulvi Abdul Ghafar Farooq on Thursday.

Vice and virtue laws
 

This 114-page, 35-article document represents the first formal declaration of vice and virtue laws since the Taliban's 2021 takeover, marking a significant step in institutionalising their interpretation of Islamic law. The ministry for the “propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice” will enforce these laws, with powers to administer punishments such as warnings or arrests for alleged violations.

The new regulations ban the publication of images of living beings, the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travellers, and the mingling of unrelated men and women. Additionally, all passengers and drivers are required to perform prayers at designated times.

The ministry’s website outlines that promoting virtue involves encouraging prayer, adherence to Islamic law, and urging women to wear the hijab, while the elimination of vice focuses on prohibiting actions forbidden by Islamic law.

A recent United Nations (UN) report highlighted the ministry’s role in fostering a climate of fear and intimidation through these edicts. It expressed concern over the ministry’s growing influence in public life, including media oversight and efforts to eradicate drug addiction.

“Given the multiple issues outlined in the report, the position expressed by the de facto authorities that this oversight will be increasing and expanding gives cause for significant concern for all Afghans, especially women and girls,” said Fiona Frazer, head of the human rights service at the UN mission in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, however, dismissed the UN’s findings.