By Haniya Frotan
Farzana was suffering from what she describes as a “slow death” – confined to her house without anything to look forward to – when she decided to take up painting. The 25-year-old never set out to be a painter, but she joined group classes to pass her time as an attempt to pull herself out of a deep depression.
However, a surprise visit by the Taliban morality police filled with abuse and threats has destroyed any relief she gained.
“Shameless. How dare you go outside with this appearance? You are a woman – your place is at home. Why are you outside? This unscrupulous one should be taken to the police station.” Farzana recalled these words being levelled at her by men with the power to inflict any punishment they saw fit based on their own loose and vague interpretation of the Taliban’s new “morality law”.
Farzana said that since the public humiliation by the Taliban officers, she hasn’t had the courage to step outside her Kabul home in District 18.
“When they kicked me out of the classroom with insults, they told my teacher that if they saw ‘this woman’ inside the class again, they would shut down her gallery,” she said.
“They also said that if they saw me going to painting classes again, they would take me directly to the police station.”
Farzana’s mother Shireen*, 49, recalled the September day the Taliban abused her daughter.
“She was just trembling and crying,” she said.
Terrified by the inexplicable threats, Shireen and Farzana’s father have now prohibited Farzana’s older sister, who works as a nurse at a hospital, from going to work.
Mina*, 22, has faced a similar ordeal. Overwhelmed by fear, she said goodbye to her canvas, brushes, and paints three weeks ago.
“Once a week, we would witness the arrival of the Taliban morality officers in white cloaks at the painting and English classes. Their presence became like a recurring nightmare,” she said.
The morality police invoked the ban on girls’ school education above grade six to issue threats about the painting classes.
“They warned our teachers that they were not allowed to teach girls above the sixth grade.”
Eventually the fear of the threats outweighed Mina’s desire to get out of her house and have a simple pastime.
Similar reports of harassment and threats have been increasing from girls and women who engage in hobbies or activities outside their homes. And it’s not only the artistic pursuits like languages and calligraphy being targeted – even women working in healthcare centers are not safe.
Maryam*, 25, has claimed the Taliban appointed spies to monitor female employees at her work in a private healthcare center in Kabul.
She said visits from Taliban morality officers have increased in recent weeks.
“The Taliban in white cloaks are coming to the hospital every day and check our clothing,” she said.
If any attire catches their eye, they resort to grossly abusive insults and harsh threats, she said.
The women who spoke to Rukhshana Media have sensed that a new “morality law” introduced by the Taliban’s Supreme Leader in August has increased the licence of the vice and virtue police to punish women, and girls and women are increasingly isolating themselves.
It’s consistent with the United Nations report released in September that found 64 percent of women surveyed felt “completely unsafe” when leaving home alone. A staggering 70 percent of those respondents attributed their insecurity to the de facto authorities.
The United Nations has described the new morality law as conflicting with the “human conscience” with “around 79 percent of women and girls in Afghanistan deprived of access to public places such as parks and healthcare centers” in the past 12 months.
Kabul resident Roqia*, 26, said she has been repeatedly interrogated by Taliban morality officers when she leaves her home in District 7.
Simply being outside has triggered abusive and intimidating behaviour from the Taliban who also abuse anyone with them, she said.
“I had gone to the Kote-Sangi market with a friend to shop. On our way back, we encountered a group of Taliban in white cloaks. They stopped our car and approached us,” she said.
“One of them angrily pulled me out of the car and told the driver that he should not let ‘these whores’ into his vehicle.
“Every girl who sees them [the morality police] becomes terrified.”
Why do Taliban morality police use so much abuse and threats?
Kabul-based activist Milad* said that the insults, threats, and verbal abuse of the Taliban toward women is a deliberate and intentional tactic designed to destabilize public spaces for women and force them into isolation by remaining at home.
“The Taliban, by dominating public spaces, are instilling fear and terror in the hearts of families,” he said.
He said it was an extension of the control they wield through unrelenting corporal punishment carried out in the streets, including the public floggings and executions.
And the Taliban may be having some success with these methods.
A United Nations study found that family support for the freedom and education of their daughters may be decreasing.
According to the UN, more than 50 percent of women and girls surveyed “feel that community support for primary [and higher] education for girls has declined.”
*Note: Names are changed due to security reasons.
