Taliban Restrictions Turn Women into ‘Silent Shadows’ UN: Afghanistan’s New ‘Vice Prevention’ Law Turns Women into ‘Silent Shadows’ Women
The recently adopted ‘Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’ law by the de facto Afghan authorities enshrines a policy that severely restricts women’s presence in public spaces and completely deprives them of autonomy, effectively turning them into “faceless, voiceless shadows,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said at a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday.
“This is completely unacceptable. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls for the immediate repeal of this outrageous law,” she said.
The long list of repressive measures this law imposes on women reinforces existing restrictions and violates their fundamental rights, including freedom of movement, freedom of expression and the right to live without discrimination.
The new law requires women to wear full coverage from head to toe, including the face, at all times outside the home, and prohibits transport companies from transporting women unless accompanied by a male relative. Women are also now banned from singing, reciting poetry or reading aloud in public. Women and men who are not related by blood cannot look at each other.
The law includes a number of other restrictions that are vaguely defined but could affect other human rights, such as the right to freely practice one’s religion, Shamdasani said. The law also gives state agents sweeping powers to detain people, punish them, or refer cases to the courts.
The law further tightens controls on the media, banning the publication of images of people, including de facto officials.
“We call on the de facto authorities to immediately repeal this legislation, which is a clear violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under international human rights law,” Shamdasani said.
“Depriving women of their rights and turning them into the invisible and voiceless half of Afghanistan’s population will only worsen the country’s human rights and humanitarian crisis. Now is the time to unite all the people of Afghanistan, regardless of their gender, religion or ethnicity, to solve the many problems the country faces,” she concluded.
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