The Taliban banned women from walking in Kabul’s parks
The Taliban have banned Afghan women from public and amusement parks in the capital, Kabul. This happens just months after they ordered access to be separated by gender, reports AFP.
“Over the past 15 months, we have done our best to organize and arrange visits to the parks – and even specified the days on which women are allowed to visit. But in many places, the rules were broken. There was the mixing of men and women, and the rule for women to wear a hijab was not strictly followed,” said Mohammad Akif Sadeq Mohajir, spokesman for the Ministry of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue.
The news was met with horror by the women, as it is yet another violation of their rights. “There are no schools, no jobs. We should at least have somewhere to have fun,” a mother told AFP as she watched her children play in the park through a restaurant window. “We’re just bored and tired of being home all day, our minds are tired,” she said.
Most of the rides in Zazai Park, which offers spectacular views of Kabul, have come to a sudden halt due to a lack of work. Habib Jan Zazai, one of the developers of the complex, fears he may have to close his business, in which he has invested $11 million and employs more than 250 people. “Without women, children will not come alone,” he said. And he warned that such decrees would discourage foreign investment or investment by Afghans living abroad.
