Taliban Bans Women form Travelling Without Male Chaperone

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Sunday that women seeking transport to travel long distances should only be offered transportation when accompanied by a close male relative or chaperone.

The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice also issued a directive calling on all vehicle drivers to only allow women wearing Islamic approved hijabs or Burqa’s to be allowed transport.

Ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir said that women who travel more than 45 miles (72 km) should not be offered a ride unless they are accompanied by a close male relative.

All social media networks were also notified of the recent virtue guidance. Afghanistan’s television channels have also been asked to stop showing dramas and soap operas with female actors following a request by the Taliban’s virtue ministry.

The Virtue ministry had also ordered all women TV journalists to wear hijabs while presenting the news on television.

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The spokesman said Sunday that Afghan women who wish to take public transportation must wear the hijab. In its directive, the ministry also asked people to stop playing music in their vehicles.

Afghan women already wear headscarves (also known as a hijab) however, the Taliban’s interpretation of the hijab is unclear.

Women and girls have been subjected to a variety of restrictions since the Taliban took power in August. However, the Taliban have pledged a softer rule than when they were in power during the 1990s.

Local Taliban authorities have opened schools in several provinces, but many girls lack access to secondary education.

In early August, the Islamist group issued an order calling on the government to enforce women’s rights in the name of their supreme leader. Girls’ access to education was not mentioned in the decree.

In their struggle to gain international recognition and get aid flowing into one of the poorest countries in the world, activists hope that the Taliban will concede women’s rights.

Global donors have repeatedly cited women’s rights as a condition for restoring aid.

During the Taliban’s previous tenure, women’s rights were severely restricted.

The women were forced to wear all-covering burqas and only permitted to leave home with a male chaperone; they were also banned from working or attending school.