The Taliban in Afghanistan has introduced a new set of rules that significantly restricts the lives of Afghan women. According to the justice ministry, the 35-article law was approved by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
Under the law, women are required to cover their faces and bodies when in the presence of men who are not close family members, and they must ensure their voices are not heard in public.
Additionally, men are forbidden from wearing shorts above the knee and trimming their beards closely. The law also imposes strict regulations on various social behaviors, including a ban on music in vehicles, homosexuality, and the creation or viewing of images of living beings on digital devices. Violations of these rules can lead to punishments ranging from verbal warnings to arrests and referrals to the courts.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, responsible for enforcing these laws, has become increasingly visible in Afghanistan, creating what the UN has described as a “climate of fear.”
