Three years ago, the Taliban took control of the government of Afghanistan. Since then, its regime has continued to oppress women and girls in their country, as they introduced dozens of rules restricting females’ basic human rights. Last week, the group published a new set of laws to “promote virtue and eliminate vice,” requiring, among other things, that a woman be fully veiled in public at all times, including her face and eyes. They have also silenced the women of the country by prohibiting a woman’s voice from being heard in public spaces.
The Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue published a 114-page, 35-article document detailing the new laws. Article 13 says it is mandatory for a woman to “veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others,” reports the Associated Press. They are also mandated to fully veil themselves in the presence of all male strangers, and all non-Muslims. They are also forbidden from using perfume or make-up.
A woman’s voice, the Taliban decreed, is “intimate,” and therefore women are prohibited from singing, reciting or reading out loud in public. They are also not allowed to laugh loudly, and their laughter should not be heard by men.
Article 17 also bans the publication of images of living beings. Voice of America reports that a Taliban-controlled state broadcaster in Afghanistan “silenced a female journalist and her image during a live media event Tuesday, apparently in compliance with the radical rulers’ recently enacted morality law that bans women from speaking or showing their faces in public.”
Zabihullah Mujahid, the main spokesman for the Taliban’s government, issued a statement warning against “arrogance” from those who he said may not be familiar with Islamic law, particularly non-Muslims who might express reservations or objections.
“We urge a thorough understanding of these laws and a respectful acknowledgment of Islamic values. To reject these laws without such understanding is, in our view, an expression of arrogance,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
This is an excerpt of a longer article originally published by the Deseret News.
