KABUL: An Afghan woman sings in a video showing just a sliver of her face, one of dozens of women taking part in an online protest against a law that bans women from raising their voices in public.

Taliban authorities last week announced the law, which includes rules that women’s faces, bodies and voices should be “covered” outside their home, among 35 articles dictating behaviour and lifestyle.

In response, Afghan women inside and outside the country have posted videos on social media of them singing, along with hashtags such as “My voice is not forbidden” and “No to Taliban”.

Former cop Zala Zazai, who currently resides in Poland, shared a video of herself singing a song by Aryana Sayeed about the resilience of Afghan women. She said the restrictions on Afghan women were “unacceptable”. “Afghan women have come to understand that misogynists can no longer deny our human rights in the name of religion and culture. And our voices calling for our rights will never be silenced,” she said.

Groups of women activists posted videos raising their fists or tearing photos of the Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who rules by decree from Kandahar.

The law on the “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” formalises many rules already in place since the Taliban swept to power in 2021.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2024