The taliban have announced this Sunday that women they want travel long distances they must be accompanied by a man of his close family, a new sign of the tightening of the regime despite its initial promises.
The recommendation, issued by the Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and circulating on social networks, also asks drivers to accept women in their vehicles only if they wear “Islamic headscarves.”
“Women who travel more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) cannot make the trip if they are not accompanied by a close family member“, the Ministry spokesman, Sadeq Akif Muhajir, told AFP, who specified that the companion must be a man.
Unkept promises
Since coming to power in August, the taliban imposed various restrictions on women and girls, despite the initial promises that his regime would be less strict than the first (1996-2001).
During his first government, the Taliban forced women to wear the burqa. They could only leave the house accompanied by a man and were not allowed to work or study.
When they returned to power in August, the Taliban, in need of international community recognition and humanitarian aid, had declared that they would be more open than during its previous stage. “We see a little more every day who the Taliban really are, what their views are on women’s rights, and it’s a very, very dark picture,” Heather Barr, of the NGO Human Rights, told AFP. Watch.
“Prisoners”
“This new order goes above all … further in making women prisoners,” added Heather Barr. The Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice announced other measures, for example, the prohibition of listening to music in vehicles.
It is not clear at the moment to what extent these recommendations will be implemented, but on Saturday the Taliban had erected barriers at some points in the capital, Kabul, to inform motorists.
This directive comes a few weeks after the ministry asked the Afghan televisions not to broadcast “soap operas and soap operas with women”, and to ensure that journalists wear “Islamic headscarves” on screen. The Taliban also do not specify what they understand by “Islamic veil”, if it is a scarf or if it also covers the face, since most Afghan women wear garments that cover much more.
At the same time, there have been other gestures of the opposite sign. In several provinces, local authorities accepted open schools to girls, although many of them are still unable to attend.
Related news
Respect for Women rights it is one of the conditions imposed by international donors for humanitarian aid to return to Afghanistan.
This country, one of the poorest in the world, is on the edge of the economic collapse. The UN warned of a near “avalanche of hunger”, since it considers that 22 of the nearly 40 million Afghans may suffer an “acute” lack of food this winter.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com