Taliban bans women’s voices, bare faces from public in new restrictive laws

Life as a woman in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan just got even more restrictive as a government ministry enacts new laws on “vice and virtue” in the country, banning women’s voices and uncovered faces from public life.

The new rules were laid out in a 114-page document that covers vast aspects of everyday public life, according to The Associated Press, which viewed the document. This marks the first formal declaration of “virtue laws” in Afghanistan since the takeover.

Article 13 of the document concerns women, and lays out how a woman should clothe and conduct herself in public.

It is now mandatory for women to veil their entire bodies, including their faces, at all times in public to avoid temptation and tempting others. This means that the common Islamic head-covering, the hijab, which covers the hair and neck but not the face, is no longer considered appropriate.

Women are also forbidden from singing, reciting and reading aloud in public, as a woman’s voice is deemed “intimate” and should not be heard. It’s unclear if speaking is also banned.

The laws also note that women cannot look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.

Apart from the new restrictions on women, the laws passed on Wednesday also ban the playing of music and bar men from shaving their beards as well as skipping prayer and religious fasts.

https://globalnews.ca/news/10712505/taliban-bans-womens-voices-faces-laws/amp/