The United Nations Human Rights chief, Volker Turk, has issued a scathing rebuke of the Taliban’s latest attempt to erase women from public life in Afghanistan. New laws passed last week ban women from showing their faces or speaking in public, effectively rendering them invisible and voiceless.
Turk denounced the “vice and virtue laws” as a brazen attempt to “turn women into shadows,” stripping them of their autonomy and individuality. The Taliban’s response? A defiant rejection of the UN’s concerns, with a warning against “arrogance” from those who dare to question their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.
The UN mission in Afghanistan described the laws as a “distressing vision” for the country’s future, extending the “already intolerable restrictions” on women’s rights. Even the sound of a female voice outside the home is deemed a moral violation.
This latest crackdown comes after the Taliban barred the UN special rapporteur, Richard Bennett, from entering Afghanistan, accusing the human rights watchdog of “spreading propaganda.” Since the Taliban took power, Afghan women and girls have faced increasingly restrictive decrees, limiting their participation in all aspects of life.
The international community must stand in solidarity with Afghan women and demand the repeal of these oppressive laws. The Taliban’s attempt to silence and erase women must not be tolerated.