One afghan A woman is seen singing in a video in which her face is visible. She is one of dozens of women taking part in an online protest against a law that prevents women from raising their voices in public.
Taliban Authorities last week announced the law, which includes a rule that women’s faces, bodies and voices must be “covered” outside the home, and also contains 35 articles on behaviour and lifestyle.
In response, Afghan women inside and outside the country have posted videos of themselves singing on social media, along with hashtags such as “my voice is not barred” and “say no to Taliban.”
Former policewoman Zala Zazai, who currently lives in Poland, has shared a video in which she is singing a song by renowned artist Aryana Sayeed about the perseverance of Afghan women.
he told AFP The restrictions on Afghan women were “unacceptable”.
“Afghan women have realized that misogynists can no longer deny us our human rights in the name of religion and culture. And our voices demanding our rights will never be suppressed,” she said.
Another video, reportedly shot inside Afghanistan, shows a woman dressed in head-to-toe black with a long veil over her face singing.
She says, “You have suppressed my voice for the foreseeable future… You have imprisoned me in my home for the crime of being a woman.”
Women activists’ groups posted videos of themselves raising their fists or tearing up pictures of Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who rules by decree from the southern city of Kandahar.
In another video, an activist group chants, “A woman’s voice is the voice of justice.”
The law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” formalises many of the regulations already in place since the Taliban took power in 2021, enforcing a strict interpretation of Islamic law – or Sharia.
It states that women must not sing in public or worship loudly, and must not allow their voices to go beyond the confines of their home.
It says, “When an adult woman has to go out of the house due to necessity, she is required to cover her face, body and voice.”
The law refers to women as “aurat” – a term used in Sharia to refer to a man’s or woman’s intimate parts, which must be covered.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman, has said criticism of the law exposes “arrogance” and a misunderstanding of Sharia.
Women have faced numerous restrictions, including access to education, public spaces, and some jobs, which the United Nations has labeled “gender apartheid”.
The United Nations and other international bodies have condemned the new law, saying it further undermines women’s rights.
On Tuesday (August 27, 2024), the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called for the law to be repealed, calling it “totally intolerable”.
Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the law “reinforces policies that completely eliminate women’s presence in public – silencing their voices, depriving them of their personal autonomy, and effectively reducing them to faceless, voiceless shadows.”