Taliban ban women from speaking in public

The Taliban have banned women from speaking in public, showing their faces, and wearing thin clothing, the BBC reports, citing the law "On the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice," which was approved by Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada on August 21.

The law sets out a number of requirements for women's appearance and behavior, including provisions on what they can listen to, photograph, and look at. It is reported that the law will be enforced by mokhtasabeen, or morality police.

Under the new law, a woman's voice is considered awrat - an intimate part of the body that must be hidden from strangers. Even if a woman sings and reads aloud in her own home, her voice should not be heard on the street, the law says.

The Taliban also require women to cover their faces in public places and not wear thin, short or tight clothing. Under the new rules, women must hide their faces and body parts from any man except a blood relative or husband, so as not to "cause temptation." Among other things, women are forbidden from looking at men or sitting next to them on public transport.

Men are also prohibited by law from looking at women. Men are also banned from shaving or trimming their beards, wearing hairstyles that are "not in accordance with Sharia," and wearing ties. The Taliban also require men to wear clothing that covers their bodies from the navel to the knees.

The Taliban's new law also affects some aspects of creativity and entertainment, such as music, drawing and photography. Women and men are now prohibited from creating, storing and publishing images of all living creatures: animals, people and birds. Statues of people and animals, films and videos of them are also now illegal. The morality police are also tasked with monitoring the music that citizens listen to - their tape recorders and radios should not play music that is sinful according to Sharia.

The UN has previously criticised the Taliban's new set of rules and called for the law to be repealed. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the requirements for women "severely restrict their presence in public spaces and completely deprive them of their autonomy, effectively turning them into faceless, voiceless shadows."

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