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In Afghanistan, the Taliban have just ordered women to cover their faces in public. This is a new restriction that affects the female population. Since taking power on August 15, 2021, religious fundamentalists have imposed many of them: Afghan women have been banned from political life and no longer have the right to fly or travel beyond. of 72 km without a male relative. Colleges and high schools are still closed to girls.
From our special correspondent in Herat,
In the streets of Herat, considered one of the most progressive cities in the country, the news is a blow for young Afghan women. Ferooza Wahidi is 20 years old. » When they force women only to do this, to do that, to wear this, well they take away our freedom, and it breaks our hearts. she says. The young student has seen her life change over the past nine months. She says she no longer laughs in public, no longer dresses like she did under the previous regime.
Her friend Shekeba nods and exclaims: We cannot accept this. She explains that this new Taliban directive has already been applied for a long time in practice. « I wear a mask, because I have to. When the Taliban saw us in the street with our faces uncovered, they punished us. We didn’t wear it before. It’s so difficult for us, but we have no choice. »
Those who do not obey will expose their male relatives to the sanctions of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. He warned that the maharam (male chaperone) will incur up to three days of imprisonment in the event of several recidivism.
According to Saba, a young journalist in Kabul, this decree will further expose women to domestic violence.« The Taliban pit men against women “, she assures. The young Kabul woman says that the strategy of religious fundamentalists to bend women is to sow discord in the home in order to silence those who would dare to defy the rules of the regime. « Men will never defend the women in their family if they have to pay the price. »
A different point of view in the countryside
A woman in a burqa, a long and ample blue cape covering her face, defends the new regime. » I agree with them, it’s good to wear the burqa, she says. For us, in the villages, this is not a problem. I don’t understand why in the cities women are against it. According to her, they only spread vulgarity in society.
In an interview given to our colleagues from the BBC, the spokesperson for the Ministry for the Suppression of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue explains that the hijab consists of covering the face. » This is what the Quran says, he said. Aisha, the prophet’s wife, says that when on pilgrimage, companions of the prophet approached them, the women hid their faces. They discovered each other once they had moved away. »
» Illiterate women in poor and isolated provinces certainly think the Taliban have the truth, for lack of education », explains Zainab, a resident of Herat. The young woman, a graduate of higher education, refuses to cover her face. » The Koran does not require it. […] I will stand up to them until the end “, she lets go, with force.
The backbone of the management of society by the Taliban is really the segregation of women who are excluded from social life, politics, school, work. So it doesn’t surprise me, it saddens me enormously.
Guissou Jahangiri (Fidh): « It’s obviously very political, this control of the woman’s body »
►Also read: Driving license restrictions for women in Herat
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