4. TALIBAN RESTRICTIONS ON WOMEN AND GIRLS
“I see the future in Afghanistan as if I am sitting in a chair. My hands and legs are tied up, and I can’t move. Then someone closes the window.” Lima, university professor22
4.1 BACKGROUND Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, they have issued a series of policies, decrees and guidelines that violence the human rights of women and girls. This chapter addresses Taliban restrictions in four areas: education, work, movement and clothing. It provides neither exhaustive coverage of all the restrictions issued by the Taliban since August 2021 nor a complete examination of the implementation and geographic variances for each of the four areas that are covered. The Taliban have also imposed restrictions in additional areas, including, for example, creating barriers to women and girls in accessing health care. Instead, the chapter outlines the restrictions the Taliban have put in place in these areas since August 2021 and explores the experiences of women and girls in relation to these restrictions. Taliban policies on women and girls have often been communicated in decrees issued by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (Ministry of Vice and Virtue).23 Women and girls interviewed by Amnesty International said the Taliban’s policies are also regularly communicated via other channels, including traditional media sources, social media platforms and visits by Taliban members to public settings. Several of the women and girls interviewed by Amnesty International said the many channels of communication used by the Taliban make it difficult to decipher their latest rules. For instance, Yasamin, a 27-year-old NGO worker based in Kabul, said, “[The Taliban] will send a letter to the TV station, post on Facebook and in other media outlets… It’s difficult to keep track.”24 22 Interview, 2021. To preserve the anonymity of its sources, the precise dates and locations of the interviews are not specified, nor whether the interview was conducted remotely or in Afghanistan. 23 New Lines Magazine, “In Afghanistan, Vice and Virtue are front and center”, 25 April 2022, newlinesmag.com/reportage/inafghanistan-vice-and-virtue-are-front-and-center/ 24 Interview, 2022.
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Amnesty International
D E AT H I N S L O W M O T I O N : W O M E N A N D G I R L S U N D E R TA L I B A N R U L E
