Taliban Ban Afghan Women 'From Hearing Each Other': Report

In 2022, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan said that Taliban restrictions on the freedoms of women and girls could amount to a crime against humanity. Adding another increase in limitations on women's freedoms in the country, the Taliban in Afghanistan have reportedly issued a new decree imposing further restrictions on women, now prohibiting them from praying aloud in each other's presence.

According to The Metro, the Taliban have banned women's voices from being heard amongst other women. Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban's minister for virtue, has said it was forbidden for adult women to allow their voices to be heard. He emphasised they must not perform an Islamic prayer or recite the Quran. The Taliban have also forbid female healthcare workers from meeting with their patients's male companions.

"When women are not permitted to call takbir or athan [the Islamic call to prayer], they certainly cannot sing songs or music," he said in remarks reported on Saturday.

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"Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear... 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?" Mr Hanafi was also quoted as saying by The Telegraph.

A woman's voice is considered awrah, meaning that which must be covered and shouldn't be heard in public, even by other women, the minister said.

In October this year, Afghanistan's Taliban morality ministry pledged to implement a law banning news media from publishing images of all living things, with journalists told the rule will be gradually enforced.

It comes after the Taliban government recently announced legislation formalising their strict interpretations of Islamic law that have been imposed since they swept to power in 2021.