Islamist propaganda claims that the hijab is empowering for women, when in reality it’s a sort of vaccine passport. You need it to set foot out of the house, creating the illusion of a mobile purdah, a form of ritual segregation.
The Biden administration recently praised the Taliban’s openness to women’s rights.
Meanwhile, the Taliban are going ahead and effectively banning women from taxis unless they wear hijabs.
The Taliban have said women need a hijab — and in some cases a chaperone — to get a taxi ride. Taxi drivers have also been given new moral guidance on how to behave and look.Taliban authorities in Afghanistan on Sunday gave new guidance to taxi drivers, advising them against taking fares from women who do not follow a strict Islamic dress code by wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf.
This is a “softer” approach than they’ve taken in the past, but that’s because the Taliban currently want international aid from the Biden administration and other players.
What happens outside Kabul and the NGO sector will likely be another matter. Like Iran, the Taliban are likely to have one set of rules for public areas where foreigners are watching and another set for rural areas where they’re not.
Either way this functionally bars women from getting around unless they have a hijab.
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