The Taliban banned women from speaking in front of other women and restricted the media

Afghanistan's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has banned adult women from speaking in the presence of other women. The use of images of living beings in the media is also gradually being banned, with many provinces already announcing restrictions. This is reported by UNN with reference to Amu TV and AFP. 

The head of the Taliban Ministry , Khalid Hanafi , announced that adult women are forbidden to read the Quran aloud and pray in the presence of other women.

This caused a strong negative reaction among Afghan women. It is noted that the restrictions were tightened despite requests to protect them from the country's repressive policies. 

Samira, a midwife in Herat, said that Taliban officials now forbid female health workers from dating male patients, limiting their ability to provide care. “At checkpoints, they don't even let us talk when we go to work. And in clinics, we are told not to discuss medical issues with male relatives,” she added.

Hanafi reiterated in his statement that women should not recite Quranic verses or prayers aloud, stating: “If a woman is not allowed to perform takbir, how can she be allowed to sing?”

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Afghanistan's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice   also announced that the ban on the shooting and publication of images of living beings - namely humans and animals - from the recently passed Vice and Virtue Law will be gradually enforced.

Television was completely banned during the Taliban's previous tenure from 1996 to 2001, but no such decree has been imposed since they overthrew the Western-backed government three years ago.

According to AFP journalists , the media restrictions will make Afghanistan the only Muslim-majority country with such bans.

“I have a very bad feeling - taking photos and videos is an integral part of journalism. In addition, if this rule is fully implemented, many people working in the media will lose their jobs,” a journalist from the central province of Daikundi told AFP. 

However, a full ban has not yet been implemented, and many ministries and government officials in Kabul continue to post the photos.

For reference

The Taliban is a radical Islamist movement that originated in Afghanistan in the 1990s. In the territories under its control, the Taliban imposes radical Sharia law, which is strictly enforced. Television, music, alcohol, computers, chess, etc. are banned. During their previous rule, the Taliban decreed that women should not leave their homes unaccompanied. Girls were not allowed to go to school. All young people were banned from watching TV, listening to music, playing sports, dancing and singing. Women were forced to wear burqas with a narrow slit for their eyes.

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