Dozens of Afghan women posted videos on social media this week, showing themselves singing as a form of protest against the latest Taliban prohibition in Afghanistan: a ban on the public sound of women’s voices.
“Our voice is not Aurat, private and alluring, your eyes create temptation,” or “my face is not temptation, your eyes create temptation,” are among the chants heard in clips circulating online, where a number of women, some with faces veiled, sing in defiance.
The women are seen holding signs depicting the leader of the Taliban, the supreme leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, with his image crossed out, a striking visual in the videos.
Footage shows everything from solo performances by women to groups asserting their right to speak or to reveal their faces in public. In one fragment, the refrain echoes: “The Taliban have silenced my voice, my face, my gaze, and my presence. Come, be my voice one last time and say: Women, life and freedom.”
Alongside these protests, the Taliban’s de facto government recently approved a law mandating veil usage for Afghan women. The measure, driven by the powerful Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, requires women to cover their faces and bodies to avoid “temptation” and to prevent women’s voices from being heard publicly, including during singing, recitation, or speaking into microphones. The law also prohibits male guardians from transporting adult women without a legal male guardian accompanying them.
Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban have steadily imposed a growing list of prohibitions that push women back into near-total privatization, reminiscent of the regime from 1996 to 2001. These restrictions include bans on women’s secondary and higher education and on women participating in most types of work. The Taliban justify these measures through their interpretation of Sharia law.
In reaction to these policies, Afghan women have continued to press for visibility and autonomy, using public demonstrations and digital platforms to demand the right to learn, work, and participate openly in society. The tension between the authorities’ restrictive framework and women’s calls for greater freedom remains a defining feature of the country’s social landscape, highlighting a broader struggle for gender rights and national identity in Afghanistan.