Afghanistan, back to the past: here are the bans imposed on women

The lost reality

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10 September 2021

"The love for poetry and the chains of six years of slavery of the Taliban era, which had tied my legs, meant that, leaning on my pen and limping, I composed steps and entered the territory of poetry" so wrote Nadia Anjuman, Afghan poet from Herat in a book published in 2006. We do not know what she will have written in these days with the return of the Taliban to power.

The Taliban have issued a series of restrictions affecting the world of women that bring the Central Asian country back to the time of warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the "butcher" of Kabul for the countless murders committed.

Here are the restrictions, partial and not exhaustive.

- Complete ban for women to work outside the home, which also applies to teachers, engineers and most professionals. Only some female doctors and nurses are allowed to work in some hospitals in Kabul.

- Complete prohibition for women of activities outside the home unless accompanied by a mahram (close relative such as a father, brother or husband)

- Prohibition for women to deal with male shopkeepers.

- Ban on women being treated by male doctors.

- Prohibition for women to study in schools, universities or other educational institutions (The Taliban have converted schools for girls into religious seminaries)

- Obligation for women to wear a long veil (Burqa) that covers them from head to toe.

- Whipping, beating and verbal violence are foreseen for women not dressed according to the Taliban rules or for women not accompanied by a mahram.

- Whipping in public for women who do not have covered ankles.

- Public stoning for women accused of having sexual relations outside of marriage. (A mere number, unspecified, of lovers were stoned to death under this rule)

- Ban on the use of cosmetics. (Many women with painted nails have their fingers cut off)

- Prohibition for women to speak or shake hands with non-mahram men.

- Prohibition for women to laugh out loud. (No foreigner should hear a woman's voice)

- Ban on women wearing high heels because it produces sound when they walk (A man must not hear a woman's footsteps)

- Ban on women to go by taxi without a mahram

- Prohibition for women to be present on radio, television, or public gatherings of any kind.

- Prohibition for women to play sports or to enter a sports center or club.

- Prohibition for women to ride a bicycle or motorbike even with the mahram

- Prohibition for women to wear brightly colored clothing. In Taliban terms these are 'sexually attractive' colors

- Prohibition for women to meet on party occasions or for recreational purposes.

- Prohibition for women to wash clothes near rivers or in public places.

- Change of all place names including the word 'woman'. For example, 'women's gardens' have been called 'spring gardens'.

- Prohibition for women to appear on the balconies of their apartments or houses.

- Mandatory painting of all windows so that women cannot be seen from outside their homes.

- Prohibition for male tailors to take measurements for women or to sew female clothes.

- Prohibition of female public toilets

- Prohibition for men and women to travel on the same buses. Public buses have now been named 'men only' or 'women only'

- No baggy pants even under a burqa.

- Prohibition for women to photograph or film.

- Prohibition to take pictures of women for newspapers and books or to hang them on the walls of houses and shops.

Aside from these restrictions on women, the Taliban have:

- Banned both men and women from listening to music.

- forbidden for all to watch films, television and videos

- forbidden to celebrate New Year's Eve (Nowroz) on 21 March. The Taliban have proclaimed the holiday non-Islamic.

- they removed Labor Day (May 1) because it is considered a "communist" holiday

- they ordered all non-Islamic names to be changed to Islamic names

- they forced young Afghans to cut their hair

- they ordered everyone to choose Islamic names if their names are not Islamic.

- they ordered men to wear Islamic clothing such as hats

- they ordered men not to shave or adorn their beards which instead have to grow long to get out of a knot under the chin.

- they ordered everyone to follow prayers in mosques five times a day

- they forbade keeping pigeons and playing with birds considering it not Islamic. Anyone who violates these rules will be imprisoned and the birds killed. It is also forbidden to fly kites.

- ordered all spectators who encourage sportsmen to sing 'allah-o-akbar' (God is great) and not to clap

- they banned certain games such as kite which is considered non-Islamic

- anyone found to have banned books will be punished with death.

- anyone who converts from Islam to another religion will be punished with death.

- all students must wear a turban. They say, "No turban, no training".

- Non-Muslim minorities must wear a distinctive badge or sew a piece of yellow fabric on their clothing to differentiate themselves from the majority of the population who are Muslim.