Gyms and public baths are now also prohibited for Afghan women, we learned this Sunday from the Taliban authorities who had recently announced their exclusion from parks and gardens in the capital.
“Gyms are closed to women because their trainers were men and some (of the gyms) were mixed,” Mohammad Akif Sadeq Mohajir, spokesman for the Vice Prevention and Promotion Ministry, said on Sunday.
He also added that for the latter, “hammams” are also prohibited, public baths where men and women are traditionally separated.
“Currently, each house has a bathroom, so there is no problem for the women” to wash themselves, he added.
“Women are prisoners within the four walls of their houses”
For Sana, 23, a university student, the explanation is different: “The main reason for closing the doors of parks, gyms and hammams lies in the anti-women ideology of the Taliban.”
“Today’s Afghanistan has become a women’s dungeon. They want to put women in a black hole. Today, with the closure of these facilities, they are prisoners within the four walls of their home,” denounced the student.
Return of the full veil and secondary schools closed to girls
Despite their promises to be more flexible when they return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have largely reverted to the ultra-rigorous interpretation of Islam that marked their first term in power (1996-2001), severely restricting the rights and women’s liberties.
Secondary schools for girls were closed and ordered to wear the full veil. Excluded from most public jobs, women are also prevented from traveling alone outside of their city. Earlier this week, the Taliban also announced that they would no longer be allowed to visit Kabul’s parks and gardens.
“I have been to parks and hammams many times, I was happy,” said Fatima, 19. “I never thought that my presence in hammams or gyms could be a problem for anyone.”
growing restrictions
A video clip circulating on social media – which could not be immediately verified – shows a group of women with their backs to the camera lamenting the ban on gyms. “It is a gym reserved for women. The teachers and trainers are all women”, laments one of them.
“You can’t forbid us everything,” adds the young woman, her voice cracking with emotion.
Activists say the increasing restrictions on women are aimed at preventing them from coming together to organize opposition to the Taliban regime.
Lightning Shows
Small groups of women have staged several lightning protests in Kabul and other major cities, risking the ire of Taliban officials. These gatherings are often brutally dispersed and the women participants arrested.
Earlier this month, the United Nations expressed “concern” after the Taliban disrupted a press conference in the capital organized by a women’s organization. The participants were subjected to body searches and the organizer of the event, as well as several other people, were arrested.
Source: BFM TV
