Afghan women banned from ‘hearing each other’ as Taliban’s latest rule 'surpasses misogyny' and silences women’s voices

29 October 2024, 08:50

The Taliban's Minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi
The Taliban's Minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi. Picture: Afghanistan Government
EJ Ward

By EJ Ward

The Taliban has intensified its repressive policies, banning women from hearing each other's voices in public or private settings, alongside broader censorship of media and literature.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

This latest measure, announced by Afghanistan’s minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, Khalid Hanafi, adds to an existing string of draconian rules aimed at controlling Afghan women.

It comes just two months after the Taliban banned women’s voices in public spaces

In a voice message, Hanafi declared that even during prayers, a woman’s voice should not be audible to other women, raising concerns among activists that such laws could isolate women even further, preventing them from engaging in conversation or forming support networks.

Read more: Taliban bans all images of living things in Afghanistan

Read more: UN will continue to engage the Taliban despite new laws restricting women

In his message, minister Khalid Hanafi said: “Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear.”

“How could they be allowed to sing if they aren’t even permitted to hear [each other’s] voices while praying, let alone for anything else.”

He said these are “new rules and will be gradually implemented, and God will be helping us in each step we take”.

Since taking power in Aug 2021, the Taliban has systematically restricted women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Since taking power in Aug 2021, the Taliban has systematically restricted women’s rights in Afghanistan. Picture: Getty

“They want us not to exist at all,” said one Afghan woman from Herat, reflecting the despair many feel under the Taliban’s escalating restrictions.

These restrictions have reportedly led to an increase in suicides among women under the unbearable strain of enforced isolation.

Concurrently, the Taliban has issued a mandate forbidding the display of any images of living beings in the media. The Information Ministry in Helmand province announced that images of humans and animals are now prohibited in publications and broadcasts, adding to bans in other provinces, including Takhar and Kandahar.

This extension of the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law comes with the removal of an estimated 400 books, allegedly aimed at “destroying the thought, faith, unity, and culture” of Afghanistan.

The confiscated materials have been replaced with religious texts, reflecting an increasingly severe clampdown on cultural expression.

A midwife in Herat told Amu TV that Taliban officials forbid female healthcare workers, the last of the Afghan women allowed to work outside their homes, from speaking, especially with male relatives.

“They don’t even allow us to speak at checkpoints when we go to work. And in the clinics, we are told not to discuss medical matters with male relatives,” the midwife, who has worked in remote healthcare clinics for eight years, told the channel.

“This surpasses misogyny,” said Nazifa Haqpal, a former Afghan diplomat. “It exemplifies an extreme level of control and absurdity,” she said.

The Taliban has now banned women from hearing other women’s voices
The Taliban has now banned women from hearing other women’s voices. Picture: Getty

The Taliban has decreed that Afghan women are forbidden to:

  • Go to high school or university
  • Work in the civil service
  • Attend a protest
  • Go abroad
  • Drive a car
  • Travel alone
  • Ride in a taxi
  • Speak in public
  • Speak loudly inside your house
  • Sing
  • Read the Quran aloud in public
  • Speak to a male doctor
  • Play sport
  • Go to the gym
  • Go to the park
  • Wear bright clothes
  • Wear high heels
  • Look at men they don’t know
  • Show their faces in public
  • Own a smartphone

The mounting restrictions have led to divisions within the Taliban itself, with some officials expressing concern over the impact of extreme policies on public tolerance.

A senior Taliban official warned of potential repercussions, fearing that should a viable alternative to the Taliban emerge, public dissent could turn violent.

The current approach has bred an atmosphere of fear and isolation, with human rights advocates warning that Afghan women are effectively cut off from the outside world and each other.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

US President Donald Trump holds a chart as he delivers remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled "Make America Wealthy Again"

'Liberation Day' explained: What are Trump's tariffs and how will they impact the UK?

The blurry thieves stole £3,000 worth of cigarettes and vapes.

Police release CCTV after thieves steal £3,000 of vapes - but images leave the public calling for 'the ghostbusters'

Julie Goodyear

Julie Goodyear's husband shares rare photo of Coronation Street star two years on from dementia diagnosis

: An aerial view shows the scorched graveyard around a church following a large blaze the previous day, on July 20, 2022 in Wennington, Greater London

Londoners urged not to have barbecues this weekend amid soaring temperatures 'because of wildfire risk'

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' as Apprentice star teases potential US Presidential meeting

Lord Sugar labels Trump tariffs 'a disaster' - as Apprentice star teases potential US Presidential meeting

Mother and two children struck and killed by a vehicle in Brooklyn, New York: driver operating suspended license

Husband left 'utterly bereft' after Brit mum and two daughters killed in New York car crash

The Nintendo Switch 2 will release on June 5, 2025

Nintendo Switch 2: Exciting reveal, but why is it more expensive here?

BRITAIN-FUNERAL-POLICE

Funeral director charged with 64 offences including fraud, theft and preventing 30 lawful burials

swallow-tail

Brits urged to 'stop mowing lawns' amid 'national butterfly crisis' with more than half of species in decline

Kyle Kitchen, 38, murdered eight-week-old Primose Kane

Dad who murdered daughter by violently shaking her as baby is jailed for life

Buildings that were destroyed during the Israeli ground and air operations in Gaza

Israel expands ground attack on Gaza to seize 'large areas' - despite pleas from hostage families

Douglas Clifton Brown, 56, tried to kill his estranged wife

Old Etonian who tried to murder his estranged partner by throwing her down a 240ft well is jailed for 24 years

Kaliyah Coa, 11, was reportedly down at the water when she was 'swept away'

Pictured: Missing 11-year-old 'swept away' while paddling in the River Thames

Hot cross buns could be scarce this Easter as farmers continue to protest against Rachel Reeves' 'tractor tax'.

Hot cross bun shortage looms as farmers escalate 'tractor tax' protests

Tanesha Melbourne-Blake was shot

Teenage girl shot dead during gang 'ride-out' following social media humiliation

Mother and two children struck and killed by a vehicle in Brooklyn, New York: driver operating suspended license

Brit mum and daughters, eight and five, killed in crash by driver who said 'I have the devil in me'