AFGHAN WOMEN BANNED FROM GYMS AND PUBLIC BATHS.
Afghan women walk through the old market as a Taliban fighter stands guard, in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, May 3, 2022. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Saturday, May 7, ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public, a sharp hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
The Taliban has banned Afghan women from gyms and public baths, days after banning them from parks and funfairs.
Reports say women are increasingly being squeezed out of public life since the Taliban’s return last year despite the hardline Islamists rule that characterized their first stint in power that ended in 2021.
Most female government workers have lost their jobs, or are being paid a pittance to stay at home, as women are also barred from traveling without a male relative.
According to report, schools for teenage girls have also been shuttered across most of the country since the Taliban’s August 2021 return.
Activists have said the increasing restrictions on women are an attempt to stop them from gathering to organize opposition to the Taliban’s rule.
Meanwhile, small groups of women have staged frequent flash protests in Kabul, and other major cities, risking the wrath of Taliban officials who have beaten and detained them.
Opara Joeiyke
