After 3 Years in Power: Taliban Declares “Women’s Faces and Voices Are a Shame”

In boasting about the “achievements” made since their takeover of Afghanistan three years ago, the Taliban militant group has declared that “a woman’s face and voice are a shame,” and the government issued new restrictions on women on Wednesday, deeming “their voices forbidden in the presence of men.”

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This announcement came just hours after the group boasted of destroying more than 21,000 musical instruments over the past year. During a press conference on Tuesday, Mohibullah Khalis, head of planning and legislation at the Ministry of “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,” discussed the “achievements of the ministry over the past year,” noting that they had gathered and burned musical instruments, considering them forbidden and sinful according to the group’s understanding.

He also referred to the restrictions imposed on the media as “reforms,” stating, “We have managed to reform 90% of visual, audio, and print media.”

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Since the Taliban took power in August last year (2021), the militant group has imposed its strict laws, barring most women who held government jobs from continuing to work, while offering some small sums to stay at home.

Afghan women have also been banned from traveling without a mahram (male guardian) and are required to wear a burqa or hijab outside the home. Additionally, secondary schools have been closed to them in most parts of the country.

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The group has also prohibited women from entering parks, playgrounds, sports clubs, and public baths.

UN experts have frequently reported on the severe violations of women’s rights in Afghanistan due to the group’s actions, noting that it has worked to isolate women in their homes, which acts as a form of imprisonment leading to increased levels of domestic violence and challenges to mental health, according to AFP.