The UN has expressed deep concern following the adoption of a new law by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan, imposing brutal and unprecedented restrictions on women. This legislation, consisting of 35 articles, marks a new phase in the systematic repression of Afghan women’s freedoms, already burdened by a regime intent on erasing them from society.
Oppressive legislation with disastrous consequences
The law mandates that women must be fully covered when leaving their homes and remain silent in public, with penalties ranging from verbal warnings to detention. These measures, enforced by the morality police of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV), are not just an assault on women’s rights but a clear attempt to render them completely invisible.
Roza Otunbayeva, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), forcefully condemned this law, highlighting that it represents a terrifying vision of Afghanistan’s future. “After decades of war and in the midst of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve better than to be oppressed for behaviors as innocent as being late to prayer or glancing at someone of the opposite sex,” she stated.
Otunbayeva warned that this legislation grants the Taliban arbitrary power to harass, imprison, and silence any form of individuality, particularly that of women. “The mere sound of a woman’s voice outside the home is now deemed a moral violation,” she added, underscoring the absurdity and cruelty of these new rules.
A new phase of gender apartheid
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have gradually imposed a regime the UN has termed “gender apartheid,” aimed at eradicating women from public life. This law merely formalizes practices already informally in place, making an already unbearable situation even more suffocating.
The UN is also alarmed by the attacks on religious freedoms and press freedom contained in this law. Media outlets are now muzzled, forbidden from publishing content “hostile to Sharia” or images showing living beings. These restrictions intensify the climate of fear and repression, further isolating Afghan women from the rest of the world.
While some articles of the law prohibit practices like “bacha bazi” (the sexual exploitation of young boys), these measures do little to offset the massive human rights violations imposed by the rest of the text.
An urgent call to International action
The UN is urgently calling on the international community to respond. The new Taliban law is a direct assault on women’s rights and fundamental freedoms in Afghanistan. If the world remains passive, the progress made in human rights in the country risks being obliterated, leaving millions of women and girls in a state of absolute despair.
It is imperative that the international community exerts maximum pressure on the Taliban to immediately halt this brutal repression and allow Afghan women to live with dignity and freedom. Silence cannot be an option as the fundamental rights of Afghan women are systematically trampled.
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