Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada said the Taliban’s latest edict is “horrifying”, adding that banning Afghan women and girls from hearing each other’s voices in public is a deliberate effort to erase them from society.
“We condemn the Taliban’s appalling assault on the rights of women and girls,” he said on X.
The statement follows a recent report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, in collaboration with U.N. Women and the International Organization for Migration, which warns that the Taliban’s “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” decree is being used to enforce strict social controls. According to the report, the policy not only targets women but also creates a mechanism for broader repression across Afghan society.
The U.N.-backed study, conducted from August 2022 to July 2023, documents an erosion in public support for the education of women and girls, along with severe economic setbacks for women. Access to justice for women has also deteriorated under Taliban rule, the report found.
Participants in the study called on the international community to apply stronger pressure on the Taliban to lift these restrictions, stressing the urgent need to restore protections for women’s rights in Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s latest directive, reportedly issued by the group’s reclusive leader, bars women from speaking publicly and imposes severe restrictions on the daily lives of Afghan citizens.
