Berliner Boersenzeitung - Afghan women defiant but feel 'imprisoned' by order to cover faces

EUR -
AED 4.313974
AFN 80.547575
ALL 97.43497
AMD 449.730626
ANG 2.102304
AOA 1077.171309
ARS 1492.791928
AUD 1.764032
AWG 2.116753
AZN 1.997541
BAM 1.955498
BBD 2.367735
BDT 143.357886
BGN 1.958425
BHD 0.442032
BIF 3495.360819
BMD 1.174669
BND 1.502568
BOB 8.10275
BRL 6.532918
BSD 1.172619
BTN 101.493344
BWP 15.744571
BYN 3.837608
BYR 23023.508484
BZD 2.355537
CAD 1.60865
CDF 3393.618188
CHF 0.926898
CLF 0.028411
CLP 1114.548074
CNY 8.403552
CNH 8.419421
COP 4775.56334
CRC 592.408617
CUC 1.174669
CUP 31.128723
CVE 110.247994
CZK 24.570488
DJF 208.817789
DKK 7.463499
DOP 71.149025
DZD 152.157529
EGP 57.684102
ERN 17.620032
ETB 163.190927
FJD 2.634488
FKP 0.873886
GBP 0.867394
GEL 3.183454
GGP 0.873886
GHS 12.25411
GIP 0.873886
GMD 84.575738
GNF 10176.430224
GTQ 9.000612
GYD 245.342154
HKD 9.220684
HNL 30.706263
HRK 7.537609
HTG 153.886262
HUF 396.849551
IDR 19217.346638
ILS 3.939604
IMP 0.873886
INR 101.616249
IQD 1536.163038
IRR 49468.241835
ISK 142.276027
JEP 0.873886
JMD 187.051146
JOD 0.832875
JPY 173.446916
KES 151.506629
KGS 102.547076
KHR 4697.275417
KMF 491.578229
KPW 1057.20192
KRW 1624.960429
KWD 0.358662
KYD 0.977249
KZT 639.00143
LAK 25279.100545
LBP 105069.992316
LKR 353.815422
LRD 235.113732
LSL 20.81239
LTL 3.468492
LVL 0.710545
LYD 6.330024
MAD 10.545173
MDL 19.723957
MGA 5179.201077
MKD 61.550505
MMK 2466.138379
MNT 4214.431849
MOP 9.481137
MRU 46.800781
MUR 53.341668
MVR 18.087317
MWK 2033.386338
MXN 21.791575
MYR 4.958862
MZN 75.131774
NAD 20.81239
NGN 1799.510455
NIO 43.153343
NOK 11.939521
NPR 162.388951
NZD 1.952023
OMR 0.45182
PAB 1.172619
PEN 4.153359
PGK 4.86025
PHP 67.131949
PKR 332.30154
PLN 4.249145
PYG 8783.645069
QAR 4.274541
RON 5.067644
RSD 117.131932
RUB 93.035649
RWF 1695.03853
SAR 4.407248
SBD 9.732243
SCR 16.618437
SDG 705.386032
SEK 11.18223
SGD 1.503814
SHP 0.923105
SLE 26.958871
SLL 24632.222042
SOS 670.196618
SRD 43.06747
STD 24313.272517
STN 24.496221
SVC 10.260417
SYP 15272.795461
SZL 20.804791
THB 38.023791
TJS 11.198873
TMT 4.123087
TND 3.423472
TOP 2.751192
TRY 47.660231
TTD 7.97377
TWD 34.632522
TZS 3004.93647
UAH 49.031737
UGX 4204.351453
USD 1.174669
UYU 46.972754
UZS 14837.711193
VES 141.281409
VND 30711.715781
VUV 139.313268
WST 3.217404
XAF 655.85583
XAG 0.030777
XAU 0.000352
XCD 3.174601
XCG 2.113374
XDR 0.815674
XOF 655.85583
XPF 119.331742
YER 283.035904
ZAR 20.886665
ZMK 10573.453177
ZMW 27.351781
ZWL 378.242874
  • RBGPF

    -1.1200

    73.88

    -1.52%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • CMSD

    0.0400

    22.89

    +0.17%

  • CMSC

    0.0550

    22.485

    +0.24%

  • BCC

    1.7100

    88.14

    +1.94%

  • SCS

    0.0700

    10.58

    +0.66%

  • RELX

    -0.9800

    52.73

    -1.86%

  • NGG

    -0.0800

    72.15

    -0.11%

  • BCE

    -0.2300

    24.2

    -0.95%

  • RIO

    -0.7300

    63.1

    -1.16%

  • GSK

    -0.2600

    37.97

    -0.68%

  • JRI

    -0.0600

    13.09

    -0.46%

  • AZN

    -1.0200

    72.66

    -1.4%

  • VOD

    -0.0900

    11.43

    -0.79%

  • BP

    0.0700

    32.2

    +0.22%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0400

    13.2

    -0.3%

  • BTI

    -0.3700

    52.25

    -0.71%

Afghan women defiant but feel 'imprisoned' by order to cover faces
Afghan women defiant but feel 'imprisoned' by order to cover faces / Photo: Mohsen KARIMI - AFP

Afghan women defiant but feel 'imprisoned' by order to cover faces

Women in Afghanistan expressed defiance on Sunday after the Taliban issued a directive ordering them to cover fully in public, including their faces, or stay indoors, saying the change would effectively leave them "imprisoned".

Text size:

Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada approved the order on Saturday in a move that threatens to push freedoms back toward the harsh rule imposed by the Islamists when they previously held power between 1996-2001.

It also goes against promises about a softer rule made to the international community after the Taliban took power in August last year.

"I am being imprisoned. I can't live in freedom and all my social life is being controlled by the Taliban," activist Tahmina Taham, a former government employee who lost her job after the Taliban stormed back to power last year, told AFP.

"Forget about being a woman, I have been stripped of my liberties even as a human being."

Akhundzada's decree also specified that women working in government jobs who did not follow the order "should be fired" and that employees whose wives and daughters do not comply will also be suspended from their jobs.

The United Nations mission in Afghanistan condemned the decree and said it might further "strain engagement" between the Islamists and the international community, which has tied the resumption of aid to Afghanistan's economy and the recognition of the Taliban government to their ability to respect women's rights.

There were no immediate signs of Akhundzada's order being followed in Kabul on Sunday, with many women seen on the streets without covering their faces.

In the western city of Herat, considered liberal by Afghan standards, resident Fatima Rezaie said many women were now defiant and won't accept changes imposed by force.

"Women are not the same as 20 years ago," Rezaie told AFP.

"(Today) they are firm and steadfast and ready to stand up to defend their rights."

But in the southern city of Kandahar, the de facto power centre of the Taliban where the reclusive Akhundzada is believed to reside, women were seen wearing the burqa.

- 'Weak point' -

In the 20 years between the Taliban's two stints in power, girls were allowed to go to school and women were able to seek employment in all sectors, though considerable social barriers still impeded freedoms.

But since their return, the Taliban have imposed severe restrictions on women's rights banning them from many government jobs, secondary education and also from travelling alone outside their cities.

Taham said the new "order will have a very negative impact on the personal and working life of women," adding her sister had to quit studying after her university refused her admission in a mixed-sex class.

Many are incensed at the retraction of hard-fought freedoms.

"Where (in Islam) is it said that women's hands and faces should be covered?" said Azita Habibi, a midwife at a hospital in Herat.

But Akhundzada's decree has also left many women worried for the safety of their male guardians.

"Even I have decided to wear a full covering hijab because I don't want the men in my family to be punished or dishonoured," said Laila Sahar, a former NGO worker who gave a fictitious name to protect her identity.

"A weak point of a woman is her family, her children, her partner. The Taliban have smartly used this weakness to force her in wearing a hijab," prominent activist Hoda Khamosh told AFP.

"But no woman will accept to stay at home or stop working."

(B.Hartmann--BBZ)