Taliban’s Latest Crackdown: Women’s Voices and Faces Banned from Public Life

Taliban’s Latest Crackdown: Women’s Voices and Faces Banned from Public Life

The Taliban's grip on Afghanistan continues to tighten, this time targeting the very presence of women in public spaces. In a disturbing new development, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has issued a decree that bans women from speaking or showing their faces in public. According to the Taliban, a woman’s voice is now considered too "tempting" to be heard by men, and her face too "provocative" to be seen.

This new mandate is part of a larger 114-page document that outlines a draconian vision of public life under the Taliban, one that harkens back to their previous rule in the 1990s. Women are now required to cover themselves entirely, leaving no part of their bodies visible, not even their faces. The hijab, which many Muslim women wear to cover their hair, is no longer deemed sufficient.

This decree doesn't just silence Afghan women—it erases them. Women are now prohibited from singing, reciting, or even reading aloud in public, essentially banning their voices from the public sphere altogether. The regime claims these measures are essential for promoting virtue and eliminating vice, but the reality is far grimmer: Afghan women are being stripped of their basic human rights, one decree at a time.

International outrage is mounting, but the Taliban seems indifferent. For the women of Afghanistan, these laws are a harsh reminder that the world they knew is slipping further away with each passing day.

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Sources: Reuters, Global News, Associated Press