The Taliban on May 7 ruled Afghan women must cover their faces, according to a decree from the group’s supreme leader, an escalation of growing restrictions on women in public that is drawing a backlash from the international community and many Afghans.
A spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice read the decree from the group’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada at a press conference in Kabul, saying that a woman’s father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not cover her face outside the home.
The report added that the ideal covering according to the group was the all-encompassing blue burqa, which had become a global symbol of the Taliban’s previous hardline regime from 1996 until 2001.
The majority of Afghan women wear headscarves for traditional reasons, however many in urban places, such as Kabul, do not.
In December 2021, the Taliban issued a repressive directive stating that Afghan women travelling long distances by road should be offered transport only if accompanied by a male relative.
Taliban also received worldwide condemnation as it decided to close all secondary schools for girls. Several activists and world leaders urged the Taliban to reconsider the ban on limiting education for girls.
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