Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, and Afghan women despair

As the Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, Afghan women say that whatever hopes they once harbored for an easing of the severe restrictions on them have largely vanished.

The new religious code issued late last month bans women from raising their voices, reciting the Quran in public, and looking at men other than their husbands or relatives. It requires women to cover the lower half of their faces in addition to donning a head covering they were already expected to wear, among other rules.

Women’s lives were heavily regulated by the Taliban-run government before the latest rules were promulgated, and some of the new laws codify restrictions that were imposed on women in practice. But Afghan women, speaking in phone interviews over the past week, pointed to mounting signs of a crackdown in urban areas, where rules had been less rigorously enforced.

The Taliban’s morality police, which are an extension of the regime’s most conservative elements, appear to have been handed an unprecedented amount of power in the capital, Kabul, and elsewhere, women said. While the morality police’s white robes were a rare sight in Kabul, they have become omnipresent since late August, several women said.

Officers are roaming bus stops and shopping centers searching for dress-code violations or any women who might laugh or raise their voices. On Fridays, the Muslim holy day, religious police officers disperse women in some parts of Kabul and accuse them of preventing male shop owners from making it to the mosque in time for prayers. Women are an increasingly rare sight on Afghan television broadcasts.

While girls were banned from going to school above sixth grade and women barred from universities soon after the Taliban took power three years ago, some still attended English classes as recently as a few weeks ago. But after the Taliban’s morality police issued warnings to male teachers, according to students, many families now refuse to let their daughters participate. Other women have decided to stay home out of fear.

“Three weeks ago, I was still hopeful that the Taliban may change and remove the restrictions on girls’ education,” said Meena, a Kabul resident in her 20s who runs secret classes for teenage girls. “But once they published their Vice and Virtue law, I lost all hope,” she said. The women interviewed for this story spoke on the condition that they remain anonymous or that only their first names be published due to fear of drawing unwanted scrutiny from the Taliban regime.

Another women’s rights activist who also lives in Kabul said she had been banned from studying when the Taliban held power in the 1990s. Now, she sees history repeating itself. “The entire country has turned into a graveyard for women’s dreams,” said the 48-year-old woman. She added that initial signs that Taliban rule would be less extreme the second time around have not borne out.

When the Taliban seized power in August 2021, the new government quickly imposed far-ranging restrictions on women. But afterward, many of these changes - particularly the bans on education - were portrayed by Taliban officials as temporary. Those officials were often unable to specify what these rules required, leaving some room for interpretation that translated into regional variation in how the rules were followed. There remained a large difference, for example, between urban Kabul and the conservative rural south of the country.

But now, some women said, hopes are waning that urban influences could moderate the Taliban.

“There are two groups within the Taliban,” said Sajia, 24, a female former university student. “One group seemed to be moderate and eager to bend the rules. But now, with the restrictions approved as law, it seems that they have failed and there is no hope left.”

Others gave up hoping long ago that the Taliban leadership could be made more tolerant. “When it comes to cruelty and restrictions, they are all on the same page,” said a 20-year-old female Kabul resident, who was admitted by Kabul University’s archaeology department just when the Taliban banned women from studying.

The Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which oversees the morality police, could not be reached for comment. Two former senior officials with the ministry said the position of spokesman is vacant.

In a video statement to RTA, a Taliban-run broadcaster, Justice Ministry spokesman Barakatullah Rasouli said the new regulations emphasize “respect for human dignity of individuals” and advise officials to preach “gently.” The Taliban maintains that women’s lives have improved under its three-year rule and frequently argue that restrictions on women are for their protection.

Afghan women’s rights activists counter that the Quran does not ban women from getting educated and imposes far fewer rules about proper dress than the ones mandated by the Taliban.

Many of the Taliban’s beliefs are partly rooted in centuries-old Pashtun culture, which remains entrenched in many rural areas of Afghanistan. In these areas, it is not only men who share the Taliban’s views. In Kabul, some women particularly fear female members of the morality police, who are often recruited from conservative suburbs. “They behave even more aggressively than the male officers do,” said a 20-year-old female Kabul resident.

Many women in Kabul say they doubt the Taliban’s religious justifications for the rules, and there is widespread speculation that the regime is adding restrictions on women’s rights so it can later bargain them away in negotiations with international agencies and foreign capitals. The Taliban has been seeking international recognition for its government - so far, no country has done so - and trying to gain access to Afghan Central Bank reserves that remain frozen. Afghan leaders hope such a breakthrough would give a boost to the economy, helping to ease unemployment and hunger.

Some Afghan women blame the outside world for their vanishing freedoms. “The silence of the world over the last three years will go down as a dark chapter in history,” said Meena, echoing a widespread sentiment in the country that global attention has moved on from Afghanistan.

Many of the women she speaks to say they have unsuccessfully applied for scholarships abroad, she said, and are running out of options.

“The Taliban will keep using religion as a weapon against women,” she said. “To them, seeing the hair of a girl is a sin, but starving your country is not.”

Lutfullah Qasimyar and Haq Nawaz Khan contributed to this report.