WATCH: Afghan women share singing videos to protest Taliban’s restrictive laws

Afghan women have launched an online protest by uploading videos of themselves singing in defiance of the Taliban’s latest draconian laws. The new restrictions, imposed on 27 August 2024, require women to remain silent in public and conceal their faces and bodies, further stripping away their basic freedoms.

Women from both within Afghanistan and abroad are challenging these rules by singing about their struggle for freedom.

In one video, a woman sings with her face and body fully covered, lamenting the restrictions imposed by the Taliban, which have silenced women and confined them to their homes.

The lyrics of these songs reference the harsh realities faced by Afghan women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, including bans on education and public speech.

The movement has gained traction across South Asia and Europe, with women using their voices to resist the Taliban’s oppressive regime.

The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws also prohibit women from singing or speaking loudly in public, and even inside their homes, their voices must not be heard outside.

Despite these restrictions, Afghan women are determined to make their voices heard.

Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN’s Afghanistan mission, condemned the new laws, describing them as a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future. Women’s rights activists, including Dr Zahra Haqparast, have called for international sanctions against the Taliban, urging the global community not to negotiate with them.

Haqparast, who was once a dentist in Afghanistan, lost her job after the Taliban’s return to power and was later imprisoned and tortured for protesting. She now leads the campaign against the new laws, vowing to raise her voice until the Taliban’s oppressive regime is silenced.

Women inside Afghanistan continue to fight for their rights, with some organising protests despite the risks. A former university lecturer in Herat stated that the Taliban cannot silence them, as they are “half of this society” and possess immense power.

In response to the global outcry, the Taliban’s minister for vice and virtue, Khaled Hanafi, insisted that the international community has no authority to comment on Afghanistan, asserting that the Taliban will only engage with other nations within the framework of Islamic laws.