In yet another move to erase women from public life, the Taliban have effectively censored the voices and images of female journalists during official government broadcasts.
Over the past days, Taliban ministries in Kabul have been holding a series of events titled “Presentation of One-Year Achievements.” Despite severe restrictions, a number of female journalists have attended these events. However, whenever they attempt to ask questions, their microphones are muted and cameras are turned away from them.
Today (Wednesday, July 23), during programs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central Bank, as soon as a female journalist began to speak, her audio was cut and the live broadcast diverted. The same scenario played out yesterday during the sessions of the Taliban’s Ministry of Defense and Standards Authority — while male journalists’ questions were broadcast without interruption.
Despite ongoing pressures and threats, some women journalists continue to work in Kabul and a few other cities. Nevertheless, in several provinces the Taliban have officially banned even the sound of women’s voices on air.
Citing their rigid interpretation of “promotion of virtue and prevention of vice,” the Taliban deem women’s voices to be “awrah” (something to be concealed) and have severely restricted their presence in the media. This new prohibition marks yet another step toward silencing women and erasing them from Afghanistan’s public and media spaces.
