Taliban forbids women from 'hearing each others voices'

In his publicly shared voice message, the Taliban minister said this restriction applies when women pray; they shouldn’t be loud enough for other women to hear.

OCTOBER 30, 2024 03:39

An Afghan woman walks with her children on the anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2022. (photo credit: REUTERS/ALI KHARA) — An Afghan woman walks with her children on the anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2022.

(photo credit: REUTERS/ALI KHARA)

The Taliban has banned women from hearing each other's voices in public, the Telegraph reported on Monday.

Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban minister for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, announced this new restriction, adding to the list of things that women are forbidden to do.

In his publicly shared voice message, Hanafi said this restriction applies when women pray; they shouldn’t be loud enough for other women to hear.

Taliban take over

The Taliban, which retook Afghanistan in 2021 following the withdrawal of American forces that summer, has since implemented an evergrowing list of restrictions on women’s rights, including the suspension of girls’ schooling and banning women from entering many public places.

Activists in Afghanistan are worried this new law will prevent women from speaking at all.

Members of the Taliban carrying flags participate in a rally to mark the third anniversary of the fall of Kabul, in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 14, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Sayed Hassib)

“Living in Afghanistan is incredibly painful for us as women. Afghanistan is forgotten, and that’s why they are suppressing us – they are torturing us on a daily basis,” an Afghan woman in Kabul told the Telegraph.

In August, another new law was enacted, ordering women to cover their entire bodies, including their faces, when going outside.