Afghanistan's terrorist group, the Taliban, announced a decree this weekend banning windows in buildings overlooking areas “used by women,” which would make Afghans less likely to meet women in their homes. This is a measure to protect them.
Since conquering Afghanistan in 2021 (resulting from outgoing President Joe Biden's violation of an agreement brokered by President-elect Donald Trump to withdraw US troops from the country by May 2021), the Taliban's Jihadists have sought to exclude women from all aspects of Afghan life, public life, and society. Private. The Taliban initially promised the free world that they would build an “inclusive” government to replace the fallen US-backed regime, but quickly banned girls and women from post-primary education and ordered them never to leave their homes. We have begun to take measures such as More recently, speaking at an audible volume is prohibited unless “necessary.”
The brutal repression of girls and women was the basis of the first Taliban regime that collapsed after the September 2001 al-Qaeda attack, and was one of the first major policy shifts to be reinstated under the Taliban's fundamentalist interpretation. Ta. shariaor Islamic law.
The window ordinance, announced on social media on Saturday, expands what was originally meant to exclude women from public life to include women in private. “Supreme Leader” Hibatullah Akhundzada reportedly imposed this rule because he needed to prevent Afghans from potentially seeing women through windows. Conversely, the decree also means that for many women who are already prohibited from leaving their homes, they are unable to see the world outside through their windows, assuming that a window facing a neighbor's kitchen is similarly visible from their home's window. make it impossible.
“Seeing a woman working in the kitchen or in the courtyard or fetching water from a well may constitute an indecent act,” the law said in part, according to one source. translation This was reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The degree stipulates that any new building constructed in Afghanistan must not have windows overlooking a neighbor's “courtyard, kitchen, or neighbor's garden.” [water] Things like wells and other places often used by women. ” All existing buildings will be made to adapt to the new ruling by constructing walls and other barriers to “eliminate the harm” caused by views from windows overlooking areas where women may be present. commanded.
According to Afghan news agency Toro News, militant Islamic clerics who support the Taliban praised the move. Since terrorists attacked Taliban headquarters the day after capturing Kabul in 2021, Toro News' coverage has taken a markedly pro-Taliban stance.
“This decree is a good initiative because in Kabul, especially in urban areas, high-rise buildings often cause religious and social discomfort to people living in low-rise buildings,” said a cleric who gave his name as Haseebullah Hanafi. . said Toro News.
Toro reported, without elaborating, that “religious scholars” have “welcomed” the decree as necessary to “prevent potential harm to women.”
In addition to measures to prevent women from being seen in the wrong places, the Taliban announced this weekend that it would ban all non-governmental organizations that employ women. The Taliban already ban the employment of women in most fields, but include Women in Afghanistan support the United Nations' vital humanitarian relief efforts. The decree was announced by the Taliban's “Ministry of Economy” and ordered the suspension of employment of Afghan women.
“If cooperation is not obtained, all activities of the institution will be canceled and the license granted by the ministry to operate the institution will also be revoked,” the decree said. read.
Some NGOs are reportedly trying to circumvent the law through work-from-home measures and other provisions. Afghanistan Relief and Development Agency Coordinating Body (akbar) Humanitarian NGOs reported that the Taliban had given the go-ahead to hire women to work in the health and education sectors and to work from home. Afghan newspaper in exile Ethira Atros According to the report, ACBAR stressed that women working there must carefully follow Taliban orders regarding covering their heads and faces and ensuring the presence of a male chaperone.
“Akbar added that offices should have separate entrances, break rooms and prayer rooms for women employees, and the presence of women employees in offices should be justified. .” Ethira Atros Reported. “According to the organization, these justifications would be needed in the event of a surprise visit by the Taliban to its offices.”
Earlier this year, the Taliban's Ministry of Vice issued a decree banning women from showing their faces in public or praying loudly “because it may provoke temptation.”
“A woman's loud voice is also considered part of modesty,” Toro News explained at the time. “The law also prohibits drivers from transporting adult women without a legal male guardian.”
“It is very bad to see women in some areas, and our scholars also agree that women's faces should be hidden,” said Molvi Mohammad Sadiq, deputy ministry spokesperson. Akif reprimanded in 2023. “A woman's face is not disfigured or disfigured.” A woman has her own value, and the way a man looks at her diminishes that value. ”
In November, to commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid published a list of the Taliban's claimed women's rights “accomplishments.” The list states that the Taliban has guaranteed “approximately 20,000 women inheritance, dowry, and other basic rights that were previously deprived of them due to harmful customs, traditions, and unfounded notions.” It included the claim that “I did it.'' Honor and enthusiasm in society. ”
Mujahid also said the Taliban had “stopped 5,000 marriages in which women were forced into marriage in exchange for money or against their will, and in which underage girls were forced to marry old men.” he claimed. In fact, there is extensive evidence that the Taliban not only authorized forced marriages, but also reversed the annulment of such marriages.
