Since the Taliban’s return to power, Afghan women have faced severe restrictions on participation in education, employment and public life.
Women aren’t allowed to move in public spaces unless accompanied by a male relative. In addition, the Vice and Virtue Ministry reported a ban on the public display of any images depicting living beings, including in official media broadcasts.
Recently, the Taliban Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has introduced a new law that restricts Afghan women from performing Takbir, a verbal form of expression of faith.
This restriction erases not only a woman’s fundamental right to worship but also her very identity and existence as an autonomous being. Under these laws, Afghan women are now reduced to statues, visible in form but mute in essence, a stark symbol of the Taliban’s crushing dominance over their lives and freedom.
Just in a few years, Afghan women have witnessed extreme hardship in their societal roles excepted from the Taliban. The regime has now enacted an even graver restriction, silencing women entirely by making it illegal for them to hear or express their voices in public.
According to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
This article was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 to recognize the fundamental human rights of thought, speech, and expression.
Afghanistan’s new law restricting the voice of women has demonstrated the basic right to think, speak, and have a voice in society. The Taliban government restricts the public display of women’s voices, including laws prohibiting women from singing or reciting poetry aloud in public.
Historically, music and poetry have been vital components of Afghan culture, often used as powerful forms of self-expression and social commentary.
The Taliban view such public displays of women’s voices as inherently sinful, aligning them with what they deem “un-Islamic” activities. The public appearance of women’s voices through music, speech and poetry is a form of rebellion against the rigid interpretation of Islamic law, which seeks to impose across all aspects of life.
The ban on women’s voices isn’t just a symbolic act; it’s an attempt to erase women from the cultural and social fabric of Afghanistan. With the silencing of women in public spaces, the Taliban seeks to maintain a patriarchal society in which men hold dominant roles and women are relegated to the private sphere.
This legal restriction also underscores the broader authoritarian nature of the Taliban’s governance, as they seek to impose their narrow vision of morality on the entire population, with little regard for individual freedoms or rights.
Recently, at the UN General Assembly, Hollywood actress Meryl Streep stated, “Cats have more freedom than women in Afghanistan”, in an appeal to the international community to stop the Taliban’s repression. The actress indicated that even animals have more rights now in Afghanistan following the increased restrictions on women.
The Taliban’s stance on women’s voices is also indicative of a broader pattern of silencing dissent and curtailing freedom of expression.
While the international community has denounced the Taliban’s actions, there is little concrete action to address the dilemma of Afghan women. Sanctions, diplomatic pressure and humanitarian aid have not been enough to reverse the oppressive policies or to encourage the Taliban to change course.
Since the group’s return to power in August 2021, women in Afghanistan have witnessed a systematic dismantling of their rights. A chilling example of this mentality came from Syed Ghaisuddin, the Taliban’s minister of education, when he was asked why women needed to be confined to their homes.
His response was, “It’s like having a flower, or a rose. You water it and keep it at home for yourself, to look at it and smell it. It [a woman] is not supposed to be taken out of the house to be smelled.”
The Taliban has rolled back hard-won freedoms in education, employment and mobility, relegating women to the private sphere and erasing their presence from public life.
Despite this brutal oppression, Afghan women have shown time and again their refusal to be silenced or marginalized. Some have turned to clandestine meetings to share their poetry or music, while others have found refuge in private spaces where they can continue to practice and express themselves.
However, the reality is that the environment of fear and repression is stifling the growth of Afghan women’s public presence and cultural contributions.
The Taliban’s new law banning women from singing and reciting poetry aloud is part of a broader pattern of gender-based oppression that aims to erase women from public life altogether.
While the international community continues to call for the protection of women’s rights in Afghanistan, the situation remains dire, with little prospect for meaningful change shortly.
The voices of Afghan women may be silenced for now, but their spirit of resistance and determination to reclaim their rights will not be extinguished so quickly. The struggle for women’s freedom in Afghanistan is far from over, and it remains crucial that the world continues to stand in solidarity with those fighting for their voices to be heard.
Anoussa Salim is director of United Nations Partnership at SOULCHI International.
The Taliban are boy-loving misogynists. That is their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters they hate. Selective breeding by elimination is the only humane policy.
There is a mullah in Kandahar, a perfect stinker, he should be eliminated by Hellfire.