Since last week, Afghan women have been facing a new ban from the Taliban, the sound of female voices in publicincluding singing, reciting or speaking into microphones“According to this law, the Ministry – for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – is required to enjoin good and forbid evil… and is also responsible for peace and brotherhood among peoples,” Justice Ministry spokesman Barkatullah Rasooli said in a statement published last week by Afghan channel Tolo News.
[Represión, velo y guardián: así siguen las mujeres y niñas en Afganistán, tres años después de la retirada internacional]
This measure, which is added to a long list of prohibitions, has favored a movement on social networks that is growing. On August 29, dozens of women published several videos in which we observe them singing.
Afghan women are responding to the Taliban’s ban on women speaking in public by launching a campaign and singing out loud. pic.twitter.com/0r884tkteS
– Habib Khan (@HabibKhanT) August 27, 2024
“Our voice is not Aurat (private) and tempting, your eyes create temptations” or “My face is not a temptation, your eyes create temptations,” are some of the proclamations sung by a dozen women, some with their faces covered – in one of the videos that circulated on social networks, according to EFE.
In the images currently circulating online, women can be seen singing while holding placards, with the crossed out face of the supreme leader of the TalibanMullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, who eventually split into two.
They appear alone or accompanied in these videos, claiming their right to show themselves and express themselves publicly. “The Taliban have prevented my voice, my face, my gaze and my presence. Come and be my voice for the last time and say: Women, life and freedom“, is heard in a fragment.
Several voices have been raised in recent days in support of the women. The Purple Saturdays movement called this legislation “a sign of the Taliban’s inflexibility, which is further restricting the rights of Afghans, and in particular women.”
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also spoke out on August 23: “We totally reject the so-called Law for the Propagation of Virtue of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which seeks to silence Afghan women. We condemn any violation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined in the following day:
“Australia condemns the Taliban’s actions to silence the voices of Afghan women and girls… We express our support for the women and girls of Afghanistan and their human rights,” Wong said on her X account.
Other extreme measures
The veto joins a broad list of measures aimed at ensuring “modesty,” following the Taliban’s interpretation of sharia, or Islamic law.
Your gThe de facto government in Afghanistan, in power since 2021, has also ratified the use of the veil on Afghan women last week. This required women to cover their faces and bodies. to avoid “provoking temptation.”
Among other measures stipulated by the Taliban, It also highlights the ban on drivers transporting adult women without a male legal guardian or meeting in spaces such as beauty salons.
[La cruzada talibana contra la salud de las mujeres: en 5 años “no habrá médicas, ni enfermeras, ni comadronas”]
These restrictions also include banning secondary and higher education for women, or prohibiting Afghan women from holding the majority of jobs. According to a UN Women report, 96% of Afghan women feel they can’t trust anyone for fear of being denounced and 98% consider that they have no influence on decision-making.
