Kabul, May 7, 2022 (AFP) – The Taliban has made progress in restricting women’s freedoms, by ordering on Saturday (7) that Afghan women wear the headscarf from head to toe in public, instead of the burqa, a symbol. of oppression in the country.
In a decree published today, Hebatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban and Afghanistan, ordered women to completely cover their bodies and faces in public, saying the burqa is the best option.
“You will have to use the chador [termo usado para a burca] Because it’s traditional and respectful.”
The text specifies that “women who are neither young nor old should cover their faces when in front of a man who is not a member of their family,” to avoid provocation. He adds that if you don’t have something important to do outside, it’s best to stay indoors.
The decree also details the penalties for heads of families who do not enforce full veiling.
‘Erosion’ progress
In the face of the new restrictions, the United States has expressed concern. “We are deeply concerned that the rights and progress that Afghan women and girls have achieved and enjoyed over the past 20 years is eroding,” a State Department spokeswoman said.
The official said Washington and its international partners were “deeply concerned about the Taliban’s recent actions” regarding women and girls, including restrictions on education and travel.
Since the return of the fundamentalist Islamic group to power in mid-August, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has issued several orders on how women should dress. But this is the first national decree on the matter.
So far, the Taliban have required women to wear at least the hijab, a veil that covers the head but leaves the face uncovered, with the recommendation to wear a burqa.
“Islam never recommended the chador,” said a women’s rights activist living in Afghanistan. “The Taliban, instead of advancing, is regressing. They are behaving as in their first government, as they did 20 years ago,” added the woman, who asked not to be identified.
The Taliban imposed the use of the burqa during their first regime, between 1996 and 2001, during which they severely suppressed women’s rights, according to their strict interpretation of “Sharia”, i.e. Islamic law.
At the time, agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice flogged the women who were caught without the burqa.
fake promises
Returning to power in August, at the end of two decades of military presence for the United States and its allies in the country, the Taliban vowed to establish a more tolerant and resilient regime.
But he soon took action against women. In March, after months of promising to allow girls’ education, the Taliban ordered all girls’ secondary schools to close within hours of opening their doors. It was an unexpected turn in the situation, which he justified by saying that girls’ education should be in accordance with Islamic law.
The Taliban also enforced segregation of men and women in Kabul’s public parks, with visiting days designated for each gender.
Also in March, Islamists ordered airlines in Afghanistan to prevent women from flying unless accompanied by a male relative.
After the arrival of the Taliban, women tried to preserve their rights by demonstrating in Kabul and other major cities. But their protests were violently suppressed and many Afghan women were detained for weeks.
