Since coming to power, the Taliban have introduced rules that completely prevent women and girls from exercising their most basic rights to expression, movement and education, and interfere with their other basic rights to life, livelihoods, health care, food and water. They banned women from traveling or going to work without a male family member accompanying them – an impossible requirement for almost all families – and banned them from many jobs. The Taliban denied almost all girls access to secondary school. The Taliban`s political system is, in the words of one legal analyst, «severely underspecified and under-theorized.» The Taliban call their government the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the title of the first regime they established in the 1990s and designated themselves during their two-decade insurgency. The emirate is organized around a supreme leader, the Emir, who is supposed to be endowed by God with the authority to supervise all affairs of state and society. Yet since coming to power, the group has only vaguely insisted that it will govern in accordance with «Islamic law and Afghan values,» and has rarely articulated the legal or political principles that guide its rules and behavior. 7. Flogging and beatings and verbal abuse of women who are not dressed according to Taliban rules or women who are not accompanied by a mahram. Taliban restrictions and ill-treatment of women include: 1. Total ban on women`s work outside the home, which also applies to teachers, engineers and most professionals. Only a few doctors and nurses are allowed to work in some hospitals in Kabul.
2. Total prohibition of women`s activities outside the home, unless they are accompanied by a mahram (close male relative such as father, brother or husband). 3- Prohibition for women to deal with male traders. 4- Prohibition for women to be treated by male doctors. 5- Prohibition for women to study in schools, universities or other educational institutions. (The Taliban turned girls` schools into religious seminaries.) 6- Obligation for women to wear a long veil (burqa) that covers them from head to toe. 7. Flogging and beatings and verbal abuse of women who are not dressed according to Taliban rules or women who are not accompanied by a mahram. 8- Whipping women in public because they have uncovered the ankles. 9.
Public stoning of women accused of having sex outside marriage. (A number of lovers are stoned to death under this rule.) 10- Prohibition of the use of cosmetics. (Many women with painted nails had their fingers cut off). 11. Women are prohibited from talking to non-Mahram men or shaking hands. 12- Prohibition for women to laugh out loud. (No stranger should hear a woman`s voice.) 13- Prohibition for women to wear high-heeled shoes that would make noise while walking. (A man should not hear a woman`s footsteps.) 14. Women are prohibited from boarding a taxi without Mahram. 15.
Prohibition of the presence of women on radio, television or in public gatherings of any kind. 16. Prohibition for women to participate in sports or to enter a sports centre or club. 17. Women are prohibited from riding bicycles or motorcycles, even with their mahrams. 18. Prohibition for women to wear coloured clothing. In Taliban terms, these are «sexually attractive colors.» 19.
Prohibition for women to gather for festive occasions such as Eid or for recreational purposes. 20. Women are prohibited from doing laundry near rivers or in public places. 21. Change of all place names, including the word «women». For example, «Frauengarten» was renamed «Spring Garden». 22. Prohibition for women to appear on the balconies of their apartments or houses.
23- Mandatory painting of all windows so that women cannot be seen from outside their homes. 24. Prohibition for male tailors to take measurements of women or to sew women`s clothing. 25- Prohibition of public baths for women. 26- Prohibition for men and women to travel on the same bus. Public buses were now described as «men`s only» (or «women`s only»). 27- Prohibition of flared (wide) trouser legs, even under a burqa. 28. Prohibition of photographing or filming women. 29. Ban images of women printed in newspapers and books or hung on the walls of homes and businesses. In addition to the above-mentioned restrictions on women, the Taliban have: – Banned the listening of music, not only for women, but also for men.
– Ban on watching movies, TV and videos for everyone. – Prohibition of the celebration of the traditional New Year (Nowroz) on March 21. The Taliban declared the holiday un-Islamic. – Labour Day rejected (May 1) because it is considered a «communist» holiday. – Ordered that all persons with non-Islamic names change them to Islamic names. – Forced haircuts among young Afghans. – Ordered that men wear Islamic clothing and a cap. – Ordered that men do not shave or cut their beards, which must be long enough to protrude with a clenched fist at the end of the chin. – Ordered that everyone attend prayers in mosques five times a day. – Prohibition of keeping pigeons and playing with birds and description as un-Islamic. Transgressors are imprisoned and birds must be killed. The hang glider was also abandoned.
– Ordered all spectators, while encouraging athletes, to chant Allah-o-Akbar (God is great) and not to applaud. – Ban certain games, including hang gliding, which the Taliban call «un-Islamic». – Anyone who carries offensive literature will be executed. Anyone who converts from Islam to another religion will be executed. – All young students must wear turbans. They say, «No turban, no education.» Non-Muslim minorities must sew a distinctive emblem or yellow cloth on their clothing to distinguish themselves from the Muslim-majority population. Just like what the Nazis did to the Jews. – Prohibition of the use of the Internet by ordinary Afghans and foreigners. And so on. Although the Taliban refer to their government as an «interim cabinet,» they have taken little steps to establish a more permanent government, and they appear far from drafting and formalizing a constitution (an exploratory committee was set up months ago, but does not provide public reports on its status). Afghanistan currently has no basis for the rule of law; Taliban security forces determine what is criminal on the ground, and Taliban courts hand down sentences.
21. Change of all place names, including the word «women». For example, «Frauengarten» was renamed «Spring Garden». The lives of rural women were less affected, as they generally lived and worked in safe kinship environments. A relative degree of freedom was necessary for them to continue their tasks or work. If these women had gone to a nearby town, the same urban restrictions would have been applied to them. [1] When the Taliban last came to power, about 5,000 Afghan girls were enrolled in school. By 2018, that number had risen to 3.8 million. Afghanistan has fallen to 156th out of 180 countries in RSF`s World Press Freedom Index, with Reporters Without Borders saying that the Taliban`s return to power «has had serious repercussions on respect for press freedom and the safety of journalists, especially women.» – Ordered that everyone attend prayers in mosques five times a day. While the number of bombings across the country has declined since the Taliban took power, a bomb blast at a school killed at least six people in April. May 2022 also saw a series of bombings, some of which were claimed by the Islamic State. A Sikh temple was attacked in Kabul in June, killing two and wounding seven, and a bomb explosion during a cricket match in Kabul in July killed two.
At this Middle East Institute event, experts discuss what to expect from Afghanistan`s new leaders. In addition to media restrictions, a three-day conference of Taliban leaders in March ruled that men working in government jobs must wear beards and Islamic clothing to work, that urban parks must be separated by gender, and that women cannot travel by plane without a male relative or Mehram accompanying them.