The Taliban group ruling in Afghanistan since 2021 has passed a decree to require women to cover their faces in public spaces, which has not been an obligation since 2004, British public broadcaster BBC reports.
In the South Asian nation, a similar requirement was in place during the previous rule of the Taliban, which lasted from 1996 to 2004. Since the group took over in Afghanistan, established an internationally unrecognised government and turner Afghanistan into an Islamic Emirate, the rights of girls and women have been gradually reduced.
Earlier in May, the decree was passed by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue requiring Afghan women to wear the Islamic face veil.
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Taliban officials described the decree as recommendation, but outlined a specific set of escalating steps for anyone not complying. In the first instance the home of a woman not wearing the Islamic face veil would be visited and their husband, brother or father would be talked to. In the second, the male guardian of the woman would be summoned to the ministry. Finally, in the third, the male guardian would be taken to court and could be jailed for three days.
Since Taliban came to power, girls in Afghanistan have been banned from receiving secondary education, the ministry for women’s affairs has been disbanded and in many cases women have not been permitted to work, BBC reports.
Women in Afghanistan required to cover face in public space
