Afghanistan: Taliban prohibit women from traveling unaccompanied

When traveling “long distances”, Afghan women will need to be accompanied by a male relative, the Taliban said. A new directive which further weakens the rights of women in the country. –

This is another sign of the hardening of the regime. The Taliban announced on Sunday that women wishing to travel long distances should now be accompanied by a male relative. The recommendation, published by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and which circulated on social networks, also calls on drivers to accept women in their vehicle only if they wear the “Islamic veil”.

“Women traveling more than 45 miles [72 kilomètres, ndlr] cannot make the trip if they are not accompanied by a close family member ”, ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir told AFP that the attendant could only be a man.

This directive comes a few weeks after the ministry’s request to Afghan Televisions not to broadcast any more “Soap operas and series with rose water in which women” play, and ensure that women journalists wear “The Islamic veil” on the screen. The Taliban do not specify what they mean by “Islamic veil”, whether it is a simple scarf, already worn by the majority of Afghan women, or a more covering veil.

Since coming to power in August, the new regime has imposed various restrictions on women and girls, despite initial promises that their regime would be less strict than during their first takeover (1996-2001). In several provinces, local authorities have agreed to reopen schools for girls, although many of them across the country still cannot attend. Earlier in December, a decree on behalf of the leader of the movement called on the government to enforce women’s rights, but the decree did not address the right to education.

Activists hope the Taliban’s efforts to gain recognition by the international community and once again receive much-needed aid to the country – among the world’s poorest – will lead them to make concessions. During their first reign, they made it compulsory to wear the burqa. Women could only leave their homes when accompanied by a man and were not allowed to work or study.

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