The story goes back more than twenty years in Afghanistan. The supreme leader of the Taliban has signed a decree requiring women to wear the burqa in public. According to the head of the Taliban Hibatullah Akhundzada wearing the burqa in public is “traditional and respectful” for women.
The burqa it is the most restrictive of clothes. It completely covers the woman’s body and leaves only a slit over her eyes.
“Women who are neither too young nor too old,” says the text of the decree presented to Kabul, “They should veil their faces in front of a man who is not a member of their family.” This is to prevent their appearance from being a provocation to men. The decree goes further and reiterates that, if they do not have important tasks to perform outside, it is for women to stay a home.
For Afghan women it is a return to the period between the late nineties and 2001. The Taliban they had imposed the burqa since 1996 following a radical interpretation of Islamic law. Since mid-August, when they returned to power, the Taliban have resumed imposing bans and restrictions on women: they are excluded from high school and from most of the workplaces, they are always separated from men in the scarce educational possibilities they have left.
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Source: Vanity Fair