Afghanistan Times
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Kabul: The Taliban will ban women media workers in Kabul if they fail to adhere to a “modest dress code” which includes face veils, said an independent media body that operates in Afghanistan.
Abdul Ghaffar Farooq, Taliban’s spokesperson for the Ministry of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, suggested that media representatives “adhere to a modest dress code, showing images of women in black attire and veils with their faces mostly covered, leaving only their eyes visible”, the Afghanistan’s Journalists Centre said in a statement.
News channels in Kabul should avoid interviews with Afghan women “who do not adhere to the hijab or fully cover their faces”, the spokesperson suggested.
Any failure to comply with these unofficial guidelines will lead to a potential prohibition of women working in the media, the AFCJ said, citing Mr Hanafi.
“AFJC has expressed concern over the state of the media in the country and the potential repercussions of banning women from working in the media, who already face significant restrictions in their work,” the organisation said, warning that the move can lead to another ban on women working in Afghanistan’s public domains.
The independent organisation monitoring press freedom in the country said it is “deeply concerned about the state of the media in the country and cautions against the potential issuance of an order that would prohibit women from working in the media”.
Though most women in Afghanistan wear headscarves in public, the Taliban’s statements that women should wear “Islamic hijab” have often in the past worried women’s rights activists who say the term is vague and could be interpreted conservatively.
