Taliban Prohibits Women from Being Heard by Other Women: 'A Form of Mental Torture'

Human rights activists are warning that women could be banned from having conversations with one another in Afghanistan after the Taliban declared they should not be heard speaking by other women.

In a voice message broadcasted Monday, minister Khalid Hanafi said: "When women are not permitted to call takbir or athan (Islamic call to prayer), they certainly cannot sing songs or [make] music. How could they be allowed to sing if they aren't even permitted to hear [each other's] voices while praying, let alone for anything else," according to The Telegraph.

Hanafi announced that the changes would be "gradually implemented" with Allah "helping us in each step we take."

The new rule includes defining women's voices as "awrah," a term for the Islamic rule that designates what should be concealed, as reported by News.com.au. However, women and activists say this could mean that conversations between women may be outlawed.

"Whatever he says is a form of mental torture for us," an Afghan woman in Kabul told The Telegraph. "Living in Afghanistan is incredibly painful for us as women. Afghanistan is forgotten, and that's why they are suppressing us – they are torturing us on a daily basis."

Zaki Haidari, Amnesty International Australia's strategic refugee rights campaigner, told News.com.au that considering the world has "largely remained silent" since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, the group is "testing how far they can push before the world responds."

Since the Taliban regained control of the country, women have been heavily restricted from working, ordered to cover their faces, to not speak to men who are not their relatives or husbands and girls have been banned from receiving an education beyond primary school, as detailed by Amnesty International.