The Taliban have been in full control of Afghanistan since 2021, and the lives of women living there have drastically changed in that short period. The Taliban passed several new laws restricting women’s rights. Some of the most severe changes include women not being allowed to go to school to get an education, show their faces or be seen in public without their male chaperon. Most recently, they have taken women’s right to pray, sing and speak in public spaces. According to the new law, if a woman leaves her house, then she must not be heard. The spokesman of the Taliban government Hamdullah Fitat said that the law was passed by the supreme leader and is in line with the Islamic Sharia law and that any reader can verify this. In contrast to what he says, many scholars disagree with this because they believe that this is just the Taliban’s interpretation of suppressing women’s rights.
These women live in constant fear, worried that if they are seen or heard by a Taliban morality police, they will be questioned, imprisoned or worse. Now, they are only seen in small groups, fully covered in loose black clothing or burqas with only their eyes exposed.
Last year, some of the women tried protesting, but the Taliban detained and tortured many. After this, the protests stopped completely, and some of the women say they have never been the same. Now, instead of taking to the streets, women are recording videos of themselves with their faces covered while singing. The songs are about freedom, one of the lines being, “Let’s become one voice, let’s walk together holding hands and become free of this cruelty.”
Since women are also not allowed to study, some have created secret schools. This can be very dangerous, so they constantly have to change locations. Due to all of these new laws, Afghanistan is seeing a rise in women who are becoming suicidal. Women feel that if they cannot speak, they should not live. They also feel this way about their education.
Despite these oppressive laws, Afghan women continue to find new courageous ways to resist, refusing to be silent or be silenced.
