Afghan newcomer to Manitoba says recently enacted Taliban morality law crushing girls' hopes
CBC
Fariba Qauomi keeps the girls and women of Afghanistan in her thoughts while she's out for walks and visits in parks near her Wolseley home in Winnipeg.
They're freedoms girls and women in her home country no longer have under Taliban rule.
Qauomi, her husband and two children fled Afghanistan in 2022, a year after American troops left the country and the Taliban retook control.
Since August 2021, girls and women have been banned from many areas of public life, including going to schools beyond Grade 6 and universities.
Last week, the Taliban passed a morality law that formalized even more restrictions for both men and women.
The rules say women must cover their bodies and faces in front of male strangers. According to the 144-page, 35-article document seen by The Associated Press, women are not allowed to read aloud or sing in public.
The new law also bans men from shaving their beards and skipping prayer. Car drivers can't play music, and images of living beings, such as photographs, can't be published.
If broken, people could face penalties, including "warnings of divine punishment, verbal threats, confiscation of property, detention for one hour to three days in public jails, and any other punishment deemed appropriate," the Taliban's justice ministry said in a statement last week.
It's the first formal declaration of vice and virtue laws since the Taliban's takeover and were approved by supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, last Wednesday.
Qauomi is among those the Afghan-Canadian community who fear the laws will further erase and silence women and escalate extremism in the region.
"It's a very difficult situation for all people of Afghanistan," Qauomi said Wednesday.
"Every time I hear about the new Taliban rule, I feel stressed and suffocated."
Qauomi and her family were living in Afghanistan's capital of Kabul when the American withdrawal happened.
Qauomi had long worked in the education and non-profit sectors as a facilitator and teacher focused on girls' education, but she said that ended when the Taliban took control in August 2021.
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