Taliban condemned for introducing law banning women from speaking in public
The Taliban are facing widespread condemnation for introducing a set of laws which ban woman from speaking in public.
A set of morality laws were introduced last week to promote "virtuous" behaviour, and included requirements for women to conceal their faces, bodies and voices outside of the home.
Roza Otunbeya, head of Afghanistan's UN mission, warned the new laws only added to the "already intolerable restrictions" on the rights of women and girls.
She said: “After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one."
Afghan women living in the country and across the world have shared videos of them singing in protest at the new laws.
One of them, a 23-year-old graduate who gave her name as Efat, posted a video of her singing outdoors in Afghanistan - and said she will not be silenced.
“No command, system or man can close the mouth of an Afghan woman," she said.
"If you close one part of the body of an Afghan woman, another part will work.”
Efat filmed the video in her home province of Badakhsan in the north-east of Afghanistan. She had previously protested against the full burqa and veil becoming mandatory.
“Because we are in Afghanistan, and the region has less freedom and more fear, if a sound is heard, it will be shut down,” Efat said.
“While I was singing, I had the same fear. That if someone heard it, it would be the last time I sang.”
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At the end of the video, she says: “A woman’s voice is not intimate.”
The statement refers to the Taliban laws and what they say are the reason for a woman’s voice to be concealed outside the home.
“There is obviously fear. But Afghan women carry the same fear in our lives for the freedom of our voice,” she said.
The Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan in 2021, following the withdrawal of the military forces of some Western countries, including the US and UK.
Despite an earlier pledge to honour women's rights in their governance, the Taliban has faced condemnation for introducing restrictive laws on women's freedoms.
Amnesty International UK has called the Taliban's takeover of the country a "disaster for women's rights" which threatens progress made in recent decades.
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