Taliban Edicts

The Taliban authorities announced that all Afghan women who are still working, regardless of their rank, education, or specialty, will receive a uniform salary of 5,000 AFS, equivalent to $71. This included women physicians, nurses, midwives, teachers, and a few others. The Taliban has banned women from working and only some are employed in a few fields.

Families and couples dining out must present a “marriage certificate” to prove they are legally married in order to eat together at a restaurant.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Education mandated that private schools sign an agreement prohibiting the enrollment of girls over the age of 10 or those in grades 7 and above.

Additionally, the Taliban has imposed a requirement for all working women to obtain a work permit from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.

Following an order from the Taliban supreme leader, the Economic Affairs Commission announced plans to replace the leadership of the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce, replacing them with their own affiliates.

In a major speech, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah, announced the continuation of public stoning and flogging of women, defending these practices as consistent with their interpretation of Islamic law. He stated firmly that the Taliban would not yield to Western pressure to abandon such practice.

In an effort to further suppress and intimidate, the Taliban closed several educational centers that provided schooling to girls over the age of 10 in Kabul.

In a letter from the Taliban’s Ministry of Public Health, medical institutions of higher education were instructed to cancel the ongoing semester for female students. Winter courses are deemed to fill the gap.

The Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence directed government officials to avoid taking photos with women during aid distributions. A similar stance has been adopted when meeting foreign dignitaries, with Taliban officials refraining from taking photos with female representatives.

In Kandahar, the Taliban ordered schools to monitor girls aged 10 and above to ensure they are not attending classes beyond the sixth grade. While girls are permitted to attend school up to the sixth grade, their age is restricted to 10 years old. Additionally, girls in grades 4-6 must wear face coverings on their way to and from school.

In Khost province, the Taliban police chief banned women from contacting radio and television channels, citing concerns about immorality.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue announced that female news anchors and journalists must cover their faces, revealing only their eyes, when appearing on television.

In Logar province, the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Department announced that women should avoid wearing white pants and refrain from wearing shoes that make noise.

In Nangarhar, the same department issued a directive prohibiting dancing and singing during wedding processions or any other celebratory events.

Furthermore, the Taliban Ministry of Education ordered the removal of certain subjects from the curriculum, which they deemed unnecessary, to make room for more religious studies.

The local Department of Economy, responsible for issuing registration to organizations, mandated that all new hires by local non-profits must receive clearance from the Department of Intelligence before beginning their roles.

Additionally, the Ministry of Economy instructed both international and local organizations to avoid implementing projects focused on conflict resolution and peace, stating in their letter that these topics are not deemed necessary.

In Kunduz province, the Vice and Virtue police have mandated that all local media outlets submit their content for review before it can be published.
In Faryab province, the Taliban imposed a ban on women working with media production companies, including photography and videography services.
The Ministry of Economy has issued a directive to NGOs stating that women are no longer permitted to hold leadership positions.
The Taliban reinforced that the burqa is the only best form of hijab, and prohibited women and girls from using smartphones in schools and hospitals.

In Bamyan province, dress shops owners were verbally warned not to sell fashionable and glittery women’s clothing anymore.

Imams, religious figures, told the media in Helmand, to refrain from featuring women in their programs without prior approval. Women were also ordered to stop using social media.

In the southern province of Uruzgan, the governor ordered that women working remotely with non-profit organizations must cease their work. This came after an earlier ban by the Taliban, which prohibited women from working for NGOs, though some had continued to work remotely.

The Taliban banned all mental health programs, particularly those aimed at women and girls. The Taliban Ministry of Public Health announced that any such programs operating outside their oversight must cease immediately.

In Herat, male tailors were prohibited from sewing women’s clothing.

To suppress dissent, the Taliban issued a warning that any political or musical social media posts would lead to punishment.

During a visit to the Bamyan province, the Taliban Minister of Vice and Virtue ordered that women are no longer allowed to visit the Band-e Amir national park.

All women-run beauty salons were forced to close.

Taliban’s Directorate of Preaching & Propagation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a letter to its representatives in provinces and overseas, instructed them to perform daily prayers collectively and to adjust their appearance according to Shariah and the Prophet’s sunnah.

The Taliban abolished the Attorney General’s Office and replaced it with the “Directorate of Supervision and Prosecution of Decrees and Orders,” designed to ensure the implementation of the Taliban’s orders in public and private life.

 In a new order, NGOs must hire Taliban-approved applicants to new positions.

A letter from the Ministry of Higher Education orders to refrain from using certain words in their lectures and research. Many of the examples are in Farsi Dari.

Taliban orders all international organizations to stop all education programs in Afghanistan and hand them over to the Taliban.

The Ministry of Vice and Virtue announced that music is not allowed at weddings anymore. The Ministry, which serves as the morality police, announced that the regime will be scouring wedding halls to enforce the ban.

Women are barred from visiting health clinics and graveyards. If women and girls still go, the order demands that their men in the family must be arrested and punished.

Men (staff and teachers) must keep their beards long if they want to keep their positions in the education department in the eastern province of Khost.  

Health workers are not allowed to carry smartphones while on duty in the southern Helmand province.

The Taliban ordered the UN that Afghan national female staff were barred from work at the UN. Some “400” women work for the UN in Afghanistan.

Women are barred from going to restaurants in Herat. Previously, restaurants were segregated.

The Shia community was ordered to celebrate Eid, a religious holiday in Islam, per the Taliban court announcement. The Shia community often celebrates Eid a day later.

New laws were announced, making it impossible for women to escape and divorce abusive husbands. Many women fear their divorces under the previous republic government could be voided, forcing them to return to their former husbands.

Girls were barred from starting the new academic year in universities. Only boys were allowed.  

Men and women were ordered to visit shrines on different days.

New orders were issued to beauty salons in the central province of Parwan, demanding that women cleanse themselves before applying makeup.  

Restaurants in Takhar province should not serve women who are not escorted by a close male relative.

New year celebration was announced forbidden. The order also prohibited celebrating birthdays, Valentine’s Day, and Women’s Day. The Afghan people celebrate the Afghan new year (first day of Spring) widely throughout the country.

In the northern province of Balkh, banking services became segregated by sex.

The Attorney General’s office was abolished and renamed the General Directorate for Monitoring and Follow-up of Decrees and Directives.

Courts must reexamine cases settled by the courts under the republic government. It must invalidate cases that did not meet the Taliban Sharia.

Planting hashish (marijuana) is prohibited.

Taliban ordered women medical staff members to observe full black hijab with mask at all times.

Women in the medical field in Kandahar were told they must be escorted by a male family member.

Women’s karate club was forced to close.

Intermarriages among Sunni and Shia were forbidden in the north of Afghanistan, in Badakhshan province.

 Dental clinics run by women were forced to close in the central Ghazni province for allegedly treating male patients.

Women medical students were not allowed to take their exit exam. Only male students were allowed.

Women are banned from visiting historic sites.

Poets told not to compose musical proses.

High school graduate girls were told they are not allowed to take the university entrance exam.

The sale of contraceptives was banned, telling people it is a “western conspiracy.”

Taliban ordered that women students can no longer attend public or private universities until further notice.

Girls beyond grade 6 are not allowed to attend private courses.

Girls can pursue education in religious subject matters only.

Taliban banned women from working with I/NGOs.

Women can no longer go to public baths in Badghis.

Women can no longer go to parks and gyms.

Taliban Supreme Leader ordered Sharia law punishment, including public amputations and stoning.

Women students cannot choose subjects that are “too difficult” to study, including agriculture, mining, civil engineering.

Men teachers and students were ordered to sign a pledge of observing Sharia.

Women can no longer be on the Commission of Media Violations.

Attending religious classes became mandatory for the public servants. They must also pass the test of faith.

Girls were banned from secondary and high schools in east Afghanistan that had briefly opened.

Women students were banned from taking videos and photos on university campus.

Media outlets were ordered that women guest speakers must cover faces appearing on TV.

The Taliban has targeted religious minorities and in August 2022, the regime removed Ashura, a religious holiday for the Shia minority as a public holiday.

Women flight attendants were fired and banned from their jobs. 

Attending religious classes in universities are mandatory per the Taliban order. The order added five new classes to the curricula on top of the existing 8 classes.

The Taliban announced the creation of female moral police department.

Women cannot go to parks where authorities cannot enforce segregation.

Women students were asked to cover their faces on university campuses.

Taliban officials ordered women employees of the finance ministry to send a male relative to their jobs instead.

Girls from grade 4-6 were ordered in Ghazni to cover their faces while commuting to school or face expulsion.  

Women are banned from receiving driver’s licenses

Women cannot use public transport if they are alone.  

A Taliban decree stated that women should only leave their homes “in cases of necessity” and avoid going out.

The Taliban began a campaign for proper hijab. They stated that the best form of hijab is to stay home or wear a burqa, fully covered from head to toe.

The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission was dissolved alongside five other key departments. Also dissolved was the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR), the once high-powered National Security Council, and the commission for overseeing the implementation of the Afghan constitution.

Women journalists were told to cover their faces when appearing on TV.

Taliban supreme leaders issued an order stating, officials must refrain from second, third, and fourth marriages. Taliban members are known to have more than one wife, often “rewarding” themselves with a second, third, and fourth wife.

Parks segregated, and men and women to visit parks on different days of the week.

TikTok and PUBG banned. The Taliban say it Banned TikTok and PUBG insisting they were leading Afghan youths astray.  

University classes became segregated — three days for women and three days for men.

New hijab order was issued by the Taliban Supreme Leaders and the Ministry Vice and Virtue and Department of Hearing of Complaints was assigned to implement it. Other ministries and departments, including, The Supreme Court, the Ministry of Guidance and Pilgrimage, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior, and the General Directorate of Intelligence preachers and orators, should fully cooperate in the implementation.

Women are not allowed to seek medical treatments without a mahram.  

Women’s and men’s offices were segregated.

All foreign TV series are banned.

Schools will remain closed for girls beyond grade 6. Another statement a few days earlier had promised that schools will reopen, but the Taliban walked back on their promise.

The new year celebration was canceled and banned. New year is a big holiday in Afghanistan but the Taliban says it is against their Sharia to celebrate the new year.

Women are banned from flying or leaving the country without a mahram or male guardian. 

Men employees of the government were told to have beards to risk being fired.

Taliban supreme leader ordered that women cannot be employed or leave home.

Taliban supreme leaders ordered to refrain from hiring relative and friends to jobs.

The supreme leader issued a lengthy order outlining the curricula for universities’ first and second semesters, mostly focusing on religious text and additions.

Ordered NGOs to replace board members and those in leadership positions with Afghans living inside Afghanistan.

Ordered universities to enforce gender-segregated classrooms.  

 Banned women from traveling abroad without a mahram/male guardian and a legitimate reason.

The Taliban Supreme leader issued an order that the academic documents issued by the first Taliban regime are valid and the holders entitled for their benefits.

Closed public baths for women in Balkh.  

Ordered coffee shop owners in Herat not to serve women if a mahram/male family member does not accompany them.

Banned women from long-distance (45 miles) road trips without a mahram or a close male family member. 

Banned drivers from playing music in their cars. The order also demanded that women passengers not be given rides without hijab.

Ordered clothing stores to remove mannequins’ heads.

The Taliban’s Supreme Leader issued an extensive decree regarding women’s consent in marriage, inheritance, re-marriage after losing a husband, and fair treatment by the husband if he has more than one wife. The decree was ostensibly aimed at supporting women’s rights. However, there have been ongoing reports of Taliban officials forcing underage girls into marriage, raising concerns about enforcing this edict. This lack of adherence underscores that a significant portion of the Taliban within the organization does not consistently follow their leaders’ directives.

 Banned women from appearing in television shows.  

 Stormed the Afghan Independent Bar Association and closed the office. 

Ordered followers of non-Sunni sect of Islam and other religions to follow the Sharia orders and the Hanafi (Sunni) jurisprudence in performing their religious rituals. The order also stated that senior government employees must be followers of Hanafi jurisprudence.  

Edicts on governance were issued. No specific edict was issued on women and human rights.

The Taliban banned protests and slogans that did not receive prior approval from the Taliban. 

The Taliban prohibited girls from pursuing secondary education.

The Taliban replaced the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.   

The Taliban ordered professional and working women to remain at home until further notice.

The Taliban ordered barbers not to shave men’s beards.

The Taliban enforced a ban on women attending and teaching at Kabul University.

Taliban ordered women to remain home for their “safety,” citing a lack of training and
acceptance among Taliban foot soldiers to treat women with respect. Taliban
spokesperson had mentioned it would be a temporary order until the situation becomes
“normal.”

Taliban enforced a ban on co-education and banned men from teaching girls.

Taliban announced an empty promise of amnesty for all, including the opposition and
former pro-republic officials. The group also urged women to join the Taliban’s
government.