Afghanistan - October 2024

On 27 October, Vice and Virtue Minister Khalid Hanafi announced that it is illegal for women to perform Koranic prayers or recite verses in front of another woman. Women are being banned from “hearing other women’s voices” and a woman shall not pray loud enough for other people to hear her. Human rights activists have stated that the ambiguous wording of the decree could be applied arbitrarily, potentially even meaning that women will be banned from talking to one another. The decree is a continuation of the Taliban’s crackdown on women’s rights and suppression of their autonomy in the public and private sphere.

Sources: ABC News, Global News, Kabul Now