Taliban And Their Treatment Of Women
I keep hearing in the news the laws created by the Taliban and how cruel they are to women. I decided to put together a list to consolidate and prove that this group is barbarick and stone age. Anyone who supports these laws and rules need to be educated and modernized into this century. I feel it is sad that people think this way about anyone.
Here is a list of rules the Taliban have for women:
- Women should not appear in the streets without a blood relative or without wearing a Burqa
- Women should not wear high-heeled shoes as no man should hear a woman’s footsteps lest it excite him.
- Women must not speak loudly in public as no stranger should hear a woman’s voice
- All ground and first floor residential windows should be painted over or screened to prevent women being visible from the street. A Taliban representative explained that “the face of a woman is a source of corruption for men who are not related to them”.
- The photographing or filming of women was banned as was displaying pictures of females in newspapers, books, shops or the home.
- The modification of any place names that included the word “women.” For example, “women’s garden” was renamed “spring garden”.
- Women were forbidden to appear on the balconies of their apartments or houses.
- Ban on women’s presence on radio, television or at public gatherings of any kind.
- They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male chaperone, which led to illnesses remaining untreated.
- The Taliban allowed and in some cases encouraged marriage for girls under the age of 16. Amnesty International reported that 80 percent of Afghan marriages were considered to be by force.
- Brightly colored clothes were also banned as they were viewed as sexually attracting; a characteristic most unsuitable for women to display.
- White shoes were forbidden because white was the color of the Taliban flag.
- The Taliban rulings regarding public conduct placed severe restrictions upon a woman’s freedom of movement and created difficulties for those who could not afford a burqa or didn’t have any mahram. These unfortunate women faced virtual house arrest. A woman who was badly beaten by the Taliban for walking the streets alone stated “my father was killed in battle…I have no husband, no brother, no son. How am I to live if I can’t go out alone?”
- Ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles, even with their mahrams(a close blood relative, husband, or in-law).
- Women were forbidden from riding in a taxi without a mahram.
- Segregated bus services introduced to prevent males and females traveling on the same bus
- On September 30th 1996 the Taliban decreed that all women should be banned from employment. It is estimated that 25 percent of government employees were female, and when compounded by losses in other sectors, many thousands of women were affected. This had a devastating impact on household incomes, especially on vulnerable or widow headed-households which were common in Afghanistan.
- Taliban Supreme Leader Mohammed Omar assured female civil servants and teachers they would still receive wages of around US$5 per month, although this was a short term offering. A Taliban representative stated:”The Taliban’s act of giving monthly salaries to 30,000 job-free women, now sitting comfortably at home, is a whiplash in the face of those who are defaming Taliban with reference to the rights of women. These people through baseless propaganda are trying to incite the women of Kabul against the Taliban”.
- The Taliban claimed to recognize their Islamic duty to offer education to both boys and girls, yet a decree was passed that banned girls above the age of 7 from receiving instruction. Maulvi Kalamadin insisted it was only a temporary suspension and that females would return to school and work once facilities and street security were adapted to prevent cross-gender contact.
- In October 1996 women were barred from accessing the traditional hammam, public baths, as the opportunities for socialising were prescribed as un-Islamic.
- In October 1996 a woman had the tip of her thumb cut off for wearing nail varnish.
- In December 1996 Radio Shari’a announced that 225 Kabul women had been seized and punished for violating the sharia code of dress. The sentence was handed down by tribunal and the women were lashed on their legs and backs for their misdemeanor
- In March 1997 a married woman, from Laghman Province was caught attempting to flee the district with another man. The Islamic tribunal found her guilty of adultery and condemned both her and her lover to death by stoning.
- In May 1997, 5 female CARE International employees with authorisation from the Ministry of the Interior to conduct research for an emergency feeding programme were forced from their vehicle by members of the religious police. The guards used a public address system to insult and harass the women before striking them with a metal and leather whip over 1.5 meters in length.
- In 1999, a mother of seven was executed in front of 30,000 spectators in Kabul’s Olympic stadium for the murder of her abusive husband. She was imprisoned for 3 years and extensively tortured prior to the execution, yet she refused to plead her innocence in a bid to protect her daughter, reportedly the actual culprit.
- When a Taliban raid discovered a woman running an informal school in her apartment they beat the children, threw her down a flight of stairs causing her to break her leg, and then imprisoned her. They threatened to publicly stone her family if she didn’t sign a declaration of loyalty to the Taliban and its laws
- If a taxi driver picked up a female customer with her face uncovered or unaccompanied by a mahram then he faced a jail sentence and the husband would be punished
- If a woman was caught washing clothes in a river then she would be escorted home by Islamic authorities where her husband/mahram would be severely punished.
- Tailors found taking female measurements faced imprisonment.
To read more about the horrible treatment of women by the Taliban check out this site where I found my facts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taliban_treatment_of_women
16 comments
The taliban are a bunch of fools who are as sick as thier idiotic religion..
I certainly agree that the Taliban are a bunch of fools and that they are sick. However, much of their shameful mistreatment of women goes far beyond anything in the Koran, which is not a lot more misogynistic than many religions(e.g., 1 Corinthians 14:34-35; see, e.g., http://www.users.on.net/~joeflorence/shouldwomenspeak.htm) . To the extent that their horrid behavior is not justified by their religion, the blame upon them is even greater.
John
This is all spin to lead you to view our eastern neighbors as “this group is barbarick and stone age. ”
Welcome to Conditioning 101, You support the war on “terror” just like I get high on your “war” on drugs, You think and post thoughts along these lines with a prejudiced viewpoint.
And the education you think you received “Anyone who supports these laws and rules need to be educated and modernized into this century”
Is there to make you a closed minded drone that will post blogs, to protect women from hatred, by creating hatred of a religious/ethnic background.
It seems that all women are able to do is stay in the home cooking & cleaning for their menfolk. The restricting of education for females over the age of seven means that they will not have the skills or knowledge to be able to function without a male.
Worst of all a young teen was raped a couple of years ago by seven males but because she was travelling in a taxi without a male relative SHE was to blame not the men.
bullfisher, you should have finished highschool.
the Taliban are idiots yes….but to call Islam idiotic, again….should have finished highschool.
The Quran (as it should be spelled) teaches equality for both men and women (the Taliban impose these laws because most of them are pretty ugly and can’t get a good looking women, so they punish the attractive ones as well…..joking).
oh and also Bill, reading the list of rules for women….sounds pretty stupid right? have you read the patriot act?
Amanda: you are right, not letting a women get an education is ridiculous. The Aga Khan once stated that if a family has two children (one male, one female) and can only afford to educate one. the family should educate the Female. since the Female will one day be a mother, and will spend more time with and will have a greater influence on the children’s development she would be better off with the gift of knowledge. like the old saying goes. give a person a fish they will eat for a day. teach a person to fish, they will eat forever.
Jake: i will leave you with a quote:
“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.” – Jim Rohn
keep thinking for yourself brother.
well, it is sad to know that almost most of these laws are still pretty much applied in a very dear and big US ally in the middle east, the US never complained about that, nor it promised to start reforming this kingdom..
I think that, talibans or any other extremist group related to any religion be it muslim, christian or jewish are control freaks, some power fell between their hands and they r using it to manipulate the masses … never seeking peace or any good for anybody just more power and control.
fisher, go to school
peace
I’ve yet to see a developed country that is so-called “true” Islamic country. Egypt, you say? They’re way more secular than you think.
I mostly agree with Tali”bad” and completely agree with John. The Taliban has nothing to do with the teachings of Islam. Apparently, Muhammed’s “first task was to emancipate women”, which to me, makes this whole thing completely ironic. Not only did they do the exact opposite, but they claimed that no one except for them was allowed to question the Koran when someone gave them crap about it. Another point, pretty unrelated, that I’d like to make is that it’s not just the Muslim fundamentalists that are crazy and irrational– every kind of fundamentalist is. Whether your Christian, Jewish, or anything else, you’ve already got major issues if your a fundamentalist.
The Taliban consist of all men, do they harm their own wives when they violate the Taliban Laws?
who the hell are you guys to judge yeah there ways are wrong. Still if so many people like you think its that wrong why dont you do somthing about it?
the taliban should not have brang out these rules and shold not fucking hit women i will stab dem and kill them and whe is evar getting this comment i fucked your hall family aswell as your mummmmmmmmmmertm
i just think its bullshit
what is a school?
This article is rasict… well not entirely but some of the pointers are just hyped up by the world media.
Obviously there are always some black sheeps in the community but you cant blame the whole government for that.
You guys are fascists!!!
the taliban sucks………..how the hell can they treat women like that………….the condition of women is more like caged birds n all they seem to be gud at is cooking n household chores…………they cant even put nail paint,goddamn shit……..
Yo hero, they aren’t blaming the government, they’re pointing out the radical ideas of the Taliban. and what the heck does that have to do with fascism?
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