KABUL: Taliban rule in Afghanistan continues to impose extensive restrictions on women, education and media five years after the movement returned to power in 2021.
According to BBC reporting based on two years of access, women remain excluded from most workplaces and universities and are barred from secondary education, travelling alone and visiting many parks and leisure facilities.
Taliban officials told the broadcaster such policies should be viewed through their interpretation of Sharia.
In northern Jawzjan province, Governor Abdullah Sarhadi urged an 18-year-old woman seeking divorce after alleging abuse to remain with her husband. He later described women as “deficient in intellect,” according to the BBC account.
The woman’s family said it planned to pursue the case through the courts. The BBC reported that women face significant barriers to obtaining divorce without a husband’s consent under the Taliban court system.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who told the BBC his real name is Tahir Shah Seddiqi, defended restrictions on women’s employment and said female education remained under discussion.
Mujahid also defended controls on the media, saying outlets could not broadcast material authorities considered contrary to Islamic laws and practices.
Read: Taliban Global Ties Expand Five Years After Kabul Takeover
Restrictions are particularly tight in Kandahar, the southern Taliban stronghold where supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is based.
The BBC said men there are required to wear beards, while radio stations cannot play music or broadcast women’s voices.
The United Nations says three in four Afghans cannot meet their basic needs, according to the report, as poverty, unemployment and economic instability remain major challenges.
