Following widespread criticism and concerns expressed by Afghan women about the new rule limiting women’s access to parks, the Taliban clarified on Monday that the imposition of the new rule separating visiting days for men and women is intended to allow women to freely visit the parks. Mohammad Akif Mahajar, a spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue, said at a press conference that visiting days for men and women in public parks have been separated in order for women to freely visit the parks, according to TOLO News.
The Taliban, according to local media, recently imposed new restrictions on Afghan women and girls in Herat province. They are not permitted to move freely in public parks, including those specifically designated for women, except on certain days, and family sections in restaurants are prohibited by law; however, the majority of citizens disregarded this restriction.
Rehana Ahmadian, a 22-year-old girl, said that they used to go to the park for a stroll because her mother had high blood cholesterol based on a doctor’s advice, but since the Taliban took power, they have warned us not to leave our homes without a male guardian; we have lost all independence compared to the previous government, despite the fact that women’s parks are separate from men’s.
‘Since coming to power, the Taliban have done nothing but suppress women, and they have imprisoned all women at home,’ Asila Misbah, a women’s rights activist based in Herat, said. ‘I used to eat at restaurants with my family most of the time, but now I can’t spend an hour outside with them because of Taliban restrictions on women. Everything we do is uncertain, and we are afraid of repercussions even though we tread carefully’, she continued.
Similarly, the Taliban recently threatened men in Zabul province not to allow women to attend wedding ceremonies. One of the most notable aspects of the de facto administration to date has been the erosion of women’s rights. Women and girls had gradually gained the right to fully participate in education, the workplace, and other aspects of public and daily life before the Taliban came to power.
It’s been a year since the Taliban denied Afghan women access to education, employment, and public life. This comes as former Afghan President Hamid Karzai recently claimed that Afghan girls were barred from attending school by Pakistani order. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has faced widespread condemnation for issuing a decree prohibiting girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Over 300 days have passed since girls’ schools were closed, and Kabul officials have stated that it is dependent on the Taliban leader’s order.
Because of the Taliban’s decision to prevent girls from returning to secondary school, a generation of girls will not complete their full 12 years of basic education. Simultaneously, access to justice for victims of gender-based violence has been hampered by the closure of dedicated reporting channels, justice mechanisms, and shelters.
Taliban officials have stated that the schools for female students are closed due to religious issues, that there is a need for agreement among Islamic scholars on this matter, and that opposing the Islamic clerics’ decision regarding the schools will have negative consequences.
Since the ban, they have maintained their rhetoric that they will announce a new mechanism for the return of girls to secondary schools, but no progress has been made in this regard. Meanwhile, girls who have been barred from attending school for more than eleven months have petitioned the Taliban to reopen schools for them, according to Tolo News.
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