Taliban bans Afghan women from using public toilets

The decision of the "Taliban" movement to prevent women in northern Afghanistan from using public bathrooms designated for women for the purpose of bathing, sparked outrage among women and women's rights organizations.

The women commented on this decision, saying it was "another example of the Taliban tightening their grip and violating our basic rights."

The women expressed fear that the ban would extend to other parts of the country.

The use of "public baths" is an ancient tradition that for many people remains the only chance for a warm bath during the country's winters.

Women in northwest Herat city, where only 39 percent of neighborhoods have adequate access to water and sanitation, reported that some bathrooms had already closed.

Sardar Muhammad Haidari, of the regional branch of the Taliban's Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said that women will be prevented from entering bathrooms in Balkh and Herat provinces.

But another Taliban commander told the Guardian he did not support the decision, adding that new Afghan leaders should focus on "bigger problems".

Winus Azizi of the social organization Visions for Children in Afghanistan said that most families in Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif do not have the capacity or facilities to heat large quantities of water for the purpose of bathing in their homes.

"That's why women rely on public baths in winter," she added, adding: "Islam requires purification after menstruation, childbirth and sexual intercourse. I have regularly seen women perform ritual cleansing prayers in public baths."

The associate director of women's rights at Human Rights Watch, Heather Barr, expressed her "outrage" at "the cruelty of denying women the only comfort from the cold, for no reason at all."

"They seem to have intent to interfere in every aspect of a woman's life," she said. "We heard from the beginning warnings from Afghan women that the situation was going to get worse. Today we see proof that they were right."

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