Women in Afghanistan are not forbidden from speaking to each other, the Taliban government’s morality ministry told AFP on Saturday, denying recent media reports of a ban.

Afghan media based outside the country and international outlets have in recent weeks reported a ban on women hearing other women’s voices, based on an audio recording of the head of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV), Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, about rules of prayer.

PVPV spokesperson Saiful Islam Khyber said the reports were “brainless” and “illogical”, in a voice recording confirmed by AFP.

“A woman can talk to another woman, women need to interact with one another in society, women do have their needs,” he said.

He added, however, that there were exceptions according to Islamic law, such as those described by Hanafi that women should use hand gestures instead of raising their voices to communicate with other women while praying.

Women in Afghanistan are barred from singing or reciting poetry aloud in public, according to a recent “vice and virtue” law detailing sweeping codes of behaviour, including that women’s voices should be “concealed” along with their bodies when outside their homes.

Women’s voices have also been banned from television and radio broadcasts in some provinces.

The law codified many rules the Taliban government has imposed based on their strict interpretation of Islamic law since they came to power in 2021, with women bearing the brunt of restrictions the United Nations has called “gender apartheid”.

The Taliban authorities have banned education after secondary school for girls and women, also barring them from various jobs as well as parks and other public places.

The Taliban government has said all Afghan citizens’ rights are guaranteed under Islamic law.