Afghan women can only enter parks three days a week after Taliban decree

Afghan women can only enter parks three days a week after Taliban decree
The Taliban have enforced new gender segregation restrictions at parks, letting men in for four days a week and women three days.
2 min read
29 March, 2022
The Taliban imposed new restrictions on theme parks [Getty]

The Taliban has banned men and women from visiting entertainment parks on the same day in the ruling group's latest gender segregation measures in Afghanistan

Park admissions will be divided between men and women during the week, Afghan media have reported.

Men have been allocated four days of the week between Wednesdays to Saturdays. Women will be left with the remaining three days, from Sundays to Tuesdays.

The reported measures are the latest restrictions against women's freedoms since the Taliban took over the capital last summer.

Last week, the Taliban refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights because they were travelling without a male guardian.

Two airport officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from the Taliban, said dozens of women who arrived at Kabul International Airport Friday to board domestic and international flights were told they couldn't do so without a male guardian.

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Some of the women were dual nationals returning to their homes overseas, including some from Canada, according to one of the officials. Women were denied boarding on flights to Islamabad, Dubai, and Turkey on Kam Air and the state-owned Ariana Airline, the officials said.

The order came from the Taliban leadership, one added.

When the Taliban returned to power in August last year, they promised a softer rule compared with their first regime from 1996 to 2001, which became notorious for human rights abuses.

They claimed to respect women's rights, in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, and said girls would be allowed to study through to university level.

But the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on women, effectively banning them from government jobs, policing what they can wear, and preventing them from travelling outside cities alone.

The group have also detained several women's rights activists.