New ‘morality’ laws imposed by the Taliban are anything but moral.
Earlier this week, I woke up to news about the Taliban’s recent enactment of new laws on “vice and virtue” in Afghanistan, signaling serious regressions in women’s rights, essentially threatening to erase their existence and diminish their identities as women.
Yet, the Western world remains silent—not an enforced silence, but a chosen one.
The Taliban’s new laws build upon their existing rules and tight grip on the lives of Afghans. Issued by the Ministry for the “Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” established in 2021, these laws expand on existing discriminatory policies, such as mandatory dress codes that require women to veil their entire bodies and faces in public to avoid all-around temptation.
Women are now required to have a male guardian (mahram) when going out in public. They’re forbidden from singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public or even from their homes, as being heard could result in punishments as severe as detention for up to three days. The Ministry has already been enforcing similar morality laws, detaining thousands of people for violating these ‘morality’ rules.
“In an effort to stabilize the conflict, over 40,000 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) served in Afghanistan as part of the NATO International Security Assistance Force from 2001 to 2014, marking the largest Canadian military deployment since the Second World War,” the Government of Canada said in 2021. Despite these efforts, attempts at stabilization failed as the Taliban seized power.
As it stands, the Taliban’s new law violates all 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The new measures they continue to implement highlight the Taliban’s deep-seated hatred towards women and the silence of the international media only further undermines the rights of these women and girls, adding to their suffering and fueling the hatred against them.
The irony is not lost on me—nor should it be on anyone else. Labelling these new rules as “promoting virtue” and “preventing vice” would put every philosopher in history to shame. A woman’s voice may never be considered a vice, while their brutal methods of punishment are deemed virtuous—all in the name of morality.
The morality currently we stand behind instills fear in every woman’s voice as she leaves her home, and the fear for their life at the cost of their freedom, which seems to diminish before our eyes with every ing hour.
The women and girls of Afghanistan don’t deserve severe punishment for having a voice and existing as human beings. This situation is dystopian and made worse each day by the deafening and willing silence from so-called activists who claim to champion these causes.
Our silence isn’t just ive—it’s a complicit force, amplifying the silence Afghan women are forced to endure.
Meghrig is a third-year Philosophy student and The Journal’s Senior Arts & Culture Editor.
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