EVER since Kabul fell to the Taliban in August 2021, the world has turned very bleak for Afghan women. As they did when they first took power in the 1990s, the Taliban immediately set about erasing women from public spaces in Afghanistan. Deploying a self-serving interpretation of religion, they issued edicts requiring women to cover themselves completely in public and be constantly accompanied by a male guardian. In later months, they imposed even more draconian restrictions, make it nearly impossible for women to work outside the home even in desperately needed professions like medicine and teaching. Currently, women can only get primary education. If there is any other freedom left to prohibit, it is a safe bet that they have eliminated it.

Banning women from public spaces is strategic for the Taliban. It is easy to crack down on the vulnerable, and women are undoubtedly the least powerful in Afghanistan’s war-torn reality. Imposing veils and other restrictions immediately transforms public spaces, where half the population is now suddenly absent or swathed in layers of fabric. Policing this vulnerable population becomes an easy way to wield power, rounding up offenders, harassing others and imposing fines as a........

© Dawn