Taliban Issues Decree Barring Women from Looking Out of Windows
This is just the latest in a series of restrictions imposed by the Taliban to further isolate women from public and even private life.
Kabul, Afghanistan, December 30, 2024: In another oppressive move, the Taliban’s moral police have issued a new decree banning women from looking out of windows in Afghanistan.
The announcement, made by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, claims the measure is aimed at preventing "obscene acts." According to the decree, "Seeing the place where women live, including the kitchen and the bathroom doors, is considered dangerous."
In cases where a window opens into areas of the home frequented by women, neighbors are reportedly required to close off their view by building walls. The municipality has been tasked with ensuring the law’s strict implementation, with the decree going into effect immediately.
This is just the latest in a series of restrictions imposed by the Taliban to further isolate women from public and even private life. On November 1, another rule banned Afghan women from speaking loudly enough for others to hear, including during prayer. Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban’s Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, described women's voices as "awrah," meaning they must be hidden and should not be heard publicly.
"When women cannot call the takbir or athan [Islamic calls to prayer], they certainly cannot engage in activities like singing or making music," Hanafi was quoted as saying.
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have systematically eroded women's rights, banning them from secondary and higher education, most professions, and public spaces like parks and gyms. The United Nations has condemned these measures, urging the inclusion of women in all decisions concerning Afghanistan's future.
Asila Wardak, a former Afghan diplomat and member of the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, stressed, "The country's future cannot be built on the exclusion of half its population. Women must be part of the solution, not sidelined."