The Women’s Movement “Window of Hope” has strongly condemned the Taliban’s newly enacted law, denouncing the group’s leader as lacking the legal and legitimate authority to ratify such laws. The movement asserts that the Taliban is a foreign entity to the Afghan people, with the new law directly contradicting the culture, traditions, and beliefs of the Afghan population. In a statement, the movement criticized the law, titled “The Law of Commanding Good and Forbidding Evil,” as a severe violation of fundamental human rights and freedoms, particularly targeting Afghan women.
The movement argues that the law aims to silence women, even within the confines of their own homes, and marks the end of any hopes for the reopening of schools and universities, as well as for women returning to their workplaces. Describing the Taliban’s law and governing body as “anti-women and anti-human rights,” the movement warns that it will regress Afghan women back to the grim realities of the 1990s.
In a symbolic act of defiance, women in the movement tore up the pages of the law, rejecting its “inhumane provisions” and calling on the international community and the United Nations to shift their approach from engagement to imposing sanctions and punitive measures against the regime. Urging immediate action to save Afghan women from what they describe as a “horrific prison,” the movement seeks to draw attention to the dire situation facing women under the Taliban’s rule.
The Taliban’s vice and virtue law, which was made public last week and is now in effect, further restricts the rights of Afghan women. Article 13 of the law deems a woman’s voice as forbidden, mandating that women’s voices should not be heard. Additionally, women are required to fully cover their faces and bodies, further limiting their freedom and autonomy.
Spanning 114 pages, the law is heavily focused on restricting and prohibiting the basic human rights of women, effectively stripping them of all their rights. The Women’s Movement “Window of Hope” continues to advocate for the rights and freedoms of Afghan women, calling for international intervention to protect women from the oppressive laws and practices enforced by the Taliban.