#DoNotTouchMyClothes: Afghan Women's Powerful Campaign Against Taliban Dress Code

After returning to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban announced a new dress code for women in colleges and private universities.

Women in Afghanistan have started an online campaign to protest against the Taliban's strict new dress code for female students. Afghan women have been sharing photos of themselves in colourful traditional dresses as part of the social media fightback against the Taliban and its hardline laws for women. The photos are being shared with hashtags like #DoNotTouchMyClothes and #AfghanCulture to emphasise the fact that traditional Afghan clothes are a far cry from the conservative dress code that the Taliban has mandated for women students.  This is Afghan culture. I am wearing a traditional Afghan dress. #AfghanistanCulturepic.twitter.com/DrRzgyXPvm This is our Afghan authentic dress. Afghan women wear such colorful and modest attires. The black burqa never has been part of the Afghan culture. #FreeAfghanistan???????? pic.twitter.com/v9LIbcvklG This is our clothing, this is our culture #afghanistanwomen#DoNotTouchMyClothes ???????? pic.twitter.com/6RcoJTFM57 A campaign worth to support!I am joining my fellow Afghan women who have started an online campaign to condemn the Taliban's dress code! We are proud of our traditional Afghan outfit! #DoNotTouchMyClothes#AfghanistanCulture#afghanistanwomen@WEIForwardpic.twitter.com/7OoqIQnW5P I join #WomenOfAfghanistan in the #DoNotTouchMyClothes campaign. While I will always a support a woman's choice in attire, including the niqqab, I agree that dressing in black from head to toe is not #AfghanistanCulture Our clothes are vibrant, colourful and rich. pic.twitter.com/AR04mz61T4 This is Afghan culture. My traditional dress #AfghanWomenThank you to Dr @RoxanaBahar1 for the inspiration.Our cultural attire is not the dementor outfits the Taliban have women wearing. pic.twitter.com/i9wFASfWR6

After returning to power, the Taliban announced a new dress code for women in colleges and private universities. According to the document issued by the Taliban-run Education Ministry on September 5, women students, teachers and staff must wear an abaya and niqab that covers the hair, body, and most of the face, reports local news website Gandhara. The clothes must be black and women must also wear gloves to cover their hands. 

The #DoNotTouchMyClothes campaign emerged as a response to a Taliban-organised demonstration at Kabul University in which over 300 women, wearing all-black garments that covered their faces, announced that they supported the group and its decision to exclude women from high-ranking government positions.

"I wanted to inform the world the attires that you've been seeing in the media [referring to those worn by women at the pro-Taliban rally] that's not our culture, that's not our identity," Dr Bahar Jalali, a former history professor at the American University in Afghanistan and founder of the campaign, told BBC.