The Taliban’s new “vice and virtue” laws, banning women from speaking or showing their faces in public, have sparked widespread outrage from the international community and human rights organizations. These latest regulations, approved by the Taliban’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, mandate that women must veil their entire bodies, including their faces, in thick clothing whenever they leave their homes, ostensibly to prevent men from being led into temptation or committing vice.
The laws also declare that a woman’s voice can be a source of moral corruption, prohibiting women from speaking in public or even being heard from inside their homes. Whether singing, reading, or talking, women’s voices are deemed dangerous. “Whenever an adult woman leaves her home out of necessity, she is obliged to conceal her voice, face, and body,” the laws state. This new measure adds to the already repressive environment for Afghan women, as it not only suppresses their physical presence but also their ability to communicate freely.
In addition, the laws impose further restrictions on men, requiring them to cover their bodies from their navels to their knees when outside their homes. However, the brunt of these regulations falls heavily on women. Afghan women are now forbidden from looking directly at men who are not related to them by blood or marriage, and taxi drivers are subject to punishment if they transport a woman unaccompanied by a male relative.
Failure to comply with these laws can lead to women being detained and punished at the discretion of Taliban officials. The sweeping nature of these rules leaves women vulnerable to arbitrary punishment, with Taliban moral inspectors empowered to act with significant latitude.
International Outcry
The global community has reacted with condemnation. Roza Otunbayeva, the United Nations’ Special Representative for Afghanistan, described the situation as a deeply troubling vision for the future of the country. “It is a distressing vision for Afghanistan’s future, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of infractions,” Otunbayeva said. She emphasized that these restrictions extend the already severe limitations imposed on Afghan women since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, further eroding their basic rights.
Afghan legal experts have also weighed in on the new laws, criticizing them as both unconstitutional and in violation of Afghanistan’s international commitments. Mir Abdul Wahid Sadat, president of the Afghan Lawyers Association, stated that the laws contradict Afghanistan’s domestic legal framework and international human rights obligations. “From a legal standpoint, this document faces serious issues. It contradicts the fundamental principles of Islam [where] the promotion of virtue has never been defined through force, coercion, or tyranny,” Sadat noted, adding that the Taliban’s measures violate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in its entirety.
Voices of Protest
Fawzia Koofi, a former Afghan parliament member and women’s rights activist, condemned the Taliban’s actions as evidence of their deep-seated animosity toward women. “The Taliban government does not have any sort of legitimacy, and these new edicts designed to further erase and suppress women are an indication of their hatred towards women,” Koofi said. She also criticized the muted international response, arguing that the world’s indifference has emboldened the Taliban to act without fear of repercussion. “When they say women cannot speak in public as they regard women’s voices as a form of intimacy, it is incredibly frightening, yet the whole world acts like this is normal,” she added.
Shukria Barakzai, another former Afghan parliamentarian and Afghanistan’s former ambassador to Norway, echoed this sentiment, noting the global community’s role in allowing the Taliban’s oppressive policies to flourish. Barakzai particularly criticized international organizations such as the United Nations and the European Union for their inaction, accusing them of “whitewashing” the Taliban regime instead of taking a firm stance against its violations. “It is concerning that international organizations, particularly the United Nations and the European Union, instead of standing against these inhumane practices, are trying to normalize relations with the Taliban,” Barakzai stated.
A System of Gender Apartheid
Since the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021, they have systematically dismantled women’s rights, creating what human rights organizations have termed “gender apartheid.” Women and girls have been excluded from almost every aspect of public life. Prior to these new laws, they were already banned from attending secondary schools, most forms of employment, public parks, gyms, and beauty salons, and they have been subject to a strict dress code enforced with violence and intimidation.
Human rights groups have warned that the new “vice and virtue” laws only deepen the oppression Afghan women face, erasing their presence and silencing their voices. As the world watches in horror, Afghan women are being reduced to near invisibility, and their basic human rights are being systematically stripped away. The need for urgent international intervention has never been more critical as Afghanistan’s future grows ever more uncertain under the Taliban’s regime.