Taliban’s ‘dystopian’ new rules banning Afghan women from speaking in public widely condemned

The Taliban ’s “dystopian” new laws that forbid women from speaking or showing any part of their bodies in public have sparked anger among human rights activists, who say they will worsen the gender apartheid enforced by the country’s hardline Islamist rulers.

Last week the Taliban introduced the country’s first set of official rules aimed at “preventing vice and promoting virtue” since their takeover of the country in 2021. The rules are presented in a 114-page, 35-article document.

The regulations, approved by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, require women to cover their bodies and faces fully with thick clothing in public.

Under the new rules, women are not allowed to let their voices be heard in public, even from within their own homes, including by singing or reading aloud. Women are also forbidden from looking directly at men who are not direct members of their family, and taxi drivers can be punished for transporting women without a male escort.

Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said on Sunday the laws provided a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future.

“It extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation.”

Penalties for violating these rules include “advice, warnings of divine punishment, verbal threats, confiscation of property, detention for one hour to three days in public jails, and any other punishment deemed appropriate”.

Heather Bar and Sahar Fetrat from Human Rights Watch wrote in Zan Times : “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.”

“Afghanistan is setting the bar for how bad – how dystopian – things can be for women and girls. Politicians around the world seem appalled by the Taliban, but not so much as to do something about it,” they wrote.

A former journalist from Afghanistan, who goes by the name Elaha on Twitter/X , wrote: “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 reacted dismissively to the global criticism of their new rules, claiming it displays “arrogance”.

Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban’s government, said in a statement: “We urge a thorough understanding of these laws and a respectful acknowledgement of Islamic values. To reject these laws without such understanding is, in our view, an expression of arrogance.

“We must stress that the concerns raised by various parties will not sway the Islamic Emirate from its commitment to upholding and enforcing Islamic sharia law,” Mr Mujahid added.

Ms Otunbayeva noted: “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 rules, based on their interpretation of Islamic law, now include barring girls over 11 from education , restricting women’s access to public spaces and jobs, and enforcing dress codes and male guardianship.

Women are excluded from almost all aspects of public life, and the group has reintroduced punishments like flogging and stoning for adultery. Women have also been barred from secondary education, employment, public parks, gyms, and beauty salons .

“Day by day, they are trying to erase women from society,” an unnamed woman from Kabul was quoted as saying by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“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,” Fawzia Koofi, an Afghan human rights activist was quoted as saying by The Guardian .

“When they say women cannot speak in public as they regard women’s voices as a form of intimacy it is incredibly frightening yet the whole world acts like this is normal.”

Elica Le Bon, an activist wrote on Twitter/X: “... The Taliban passed a law that bans women from showing their faces and having their voices heard in public. Their burqas must now entirely cover their faces and they are not permitted to speak in public or to look at any males that are not relatives.

“Perhaps it’s been an emotional year, or maybe it’s because I’m triggered, but I once again cried when I heard the news. I’m still trying to piece myself together. Not even animals are treated with such cruelty, such dehumanisation , such indignity, and such little value for human life.”

Her post was viewed by about 2.9 million people and garnered more than 30,000 likes.