The laws empower the ministry to be at the frontline of policing personal conduct and administering punishments such as warnings or arrest if they allege Afghans have broken the laws.
What’s included in the legislation?
According to the document, clothing should not be thin, tight or short. Muslim women are obliged to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females.
Included in the legislation is the outlawing of women looking at men they are not related to by blood or marriage. Source: AAP / Qudratullah Razwan/EPA
A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting poetry or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.
Article 19 bans the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travellers, and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other.
“A lot of these rules were in place already but less formally and now they are being formalised I think this is a sign of what we’ve been seeing over the last three years which is a steady and gradual escalation of the crackdown,” said Heather Barr, associate director of Human Rights Watch’s Women’s Rights Division.
UN says laws are a ‘distressing vision’ for Afghanistan’s future
“It extends the already intolerable restrictions on the rights of Afghan women and girls, with even the sound of a female voice outside the home apparently deemed a moral violation,” she said.
United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan head Roza Otunbayeva said the new laws extended “already intolerable restrictions” on the rights of Afghan women and girls. Source: Getty / Pacific Press/LightRocket
“After decades of war and in the midst of a terrible humanitarian crisis, the Afghan people deserve much better than being threatened or jailed if they happen to be late for prayers, glance at a member of the opposite sex who is not a family member, or possess a photo of a loved one.”
On Monday, the European Union said it was “appalled” by the decree that “confirms and extends severe restrictions on the life of Afghans”.
“This latest decision is another serious blow undermining the rights of Afghan women and girls, which we cannot tolerate,” said a statement from EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Taliban rejects criticism as ‘arrogance’
With reporting by Reuters.
Source Agencies
