Afghan women sing in defiance of Taliban laws silencing their voices

Source: The Guardian

Afghan women sing in defiance of Taliban laws silencing their voices

Women push back at law stating they must not sing or read aloud in public by posting videos of themselves singing

Ashifa Kassam and agencies
Sun 1 Sep 2024 15.52 BST
Last modified on Sun 1 Sep 2024 16.39 BST

Afghan women, both inside and outside the country, have posted videos of themselves singing in protest against the Taliban’s laws banning women’s voices in public.

Late last month the Taliban published new restrictions aimed, it said, at combating vice and promoting virtue. The 35-article document, which includes a raft of draconian laws, deems women’s voices to be potential instruments of vice and stipulates that women must not sing or read aloud in public, nor let their voices carry beyond the walls of their homes.

As rights campaigners reacted with horror, Afghan women began pushing back. Across the country, women began uploading videos of themselves singing, in defiance of the Taliban’s systematic efforts to erase women from the public sphere.

“No command, system or man can close the mouth of an Afghan woman,” one 23-year-old said after posting her own video.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/sep/01/afghan-women-sing-in-defiance-of-taliban-laws-silencing-their-voices

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