Half of Afghanistan’s population – the women – have been pushed out of public life by the Taliban. Credit: Learning Together.
By External Source
KABUL, Sep 8 2025 – In recent weeks, the walls of the Afghan capital have been plastered with slogans about women’s hijab: “Unveiling is a sign of ignorance”; “Hijab is a father’s honour and the pride of Muslims”.
They are messages from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, created to enforce the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islamic rule on Afghanistan. Women, once again, are at the sharp end of it all.
Presented as efforts to uphold public morality, the slogans have instead weighed heavily on the mental and emotional well-being of women.
Walls That Echo Fear, Not Faith
Many women complain that the constant messaging makes them feel anxious and unsafe. Even those who are fully dressed up in hijab in accordance with the law have become fearful of stepping outside the house, not because of what they are wearing, but because the atmosphere has become so tense and judgmental. When they see slogans staring down at them from the walls, they “echo fear not faith”.
Women are not allowed to wear perfume; laugh out loud or speak openly in front of men. They must not interact with men who are either non-relatives or non-Muslims and are required to always walk with a male guardian in public
Parwin, a young woman traveling on a city bus with her mother, recalls a time when the walls of Kabul were covered with colorful murals promoting women’s rights, peace, freedom, and equality. She said, “Sadly, the Taliban have wiped those away and replaced them with messages that put limits on women”, she complains.
“What women need more than ever is more education not slogans that only scare them”, says Parwin.
Instead, after four years of living under Taliban rule women continue to live with fear, deprivation, and many restrictions.
Maliha, another Kabul resident, raised her concerns over a steady increase in the number of restrictions women now face: women are not allowed to wear perfume; laugh out loud or speak openly in front of men. They must not interact with men who are either non-relatives or non-Muslims and are required to always walk with a male guardian in public.
She said, “Women are born free and should not be cut off from the rest of society. These restrictions do not protect us. Rather, they push us out and exclude us from community life”.
The Taliban came with promises of ‘preserving Islamic values,’ but instead of respecting women’s dignity as recognized in Islam, they have subjected them to repression and exclusion.
Islam recognizes the dignity of women and grants them the right to work, participate in society and to have an education. Using religious values as a tool to suppress women only presents a harsh and unjust image of the faith.
Instead of focusing on dress codes and restrictions, the government should be helping women who have no home. They should be supporting widows and women with nowhere to turn to—by providing them shelter, jobs, and a way to live with dignity.
Restrictions That Have Paralized Life
Four years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, life has only gotten harder for Afghan women. From the beginning, strict rules were put in place to limit their freedom and instead of easing up, those restrictions have only grown tighter.
Girls are banned from attending school after six grade or university. Women are no longer allowed to work outside their homes. In effect, half the population has been pushed out of public life.
In response to these criticisms, the spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice told the media that these slogans are a way to promote Islamic morals.
But in reality a law passed last year with 35 articles severely restrict women’s personal freedoms.
Afghan women today are living without basic rights, and in an unsafe and deeply stressful environment.
If the Taliban continue with the policies of shutting women off women from the rest of society, it not only threatens the future of an entire generation of women, it also holds back progress and development of the whole country.
Excerpt:
The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons
