Taliban’s New Lock on Women’s Voices; Female Journalists’ Voices Banned in Kandahar Media

Nevertheless, female journalists in Afghanistan have criticized the Taliban’s extensive restrictions on the activities of women and girls in the media, saying that by issuing decrees and imposing limitations, the Taliban have eliminated women from political organizations, and now it is time to remove women from the media community.

Freshta Bator, one of the female journalists, said in a mocking and sarcastic tone that the Taliban issued this ban on the occasion of National Journalists Day and as a reward for the efforts and achievements of women journalists. Bator told Zan TV: "By God, it's shameful—just look at what the world thinks. Look at our Muslim rulers, who are scheming every day on how to destroy women; every day they impose another ban on women's activities. It is truly disgraceful—perhaps they issued this ban on National Journalists Day and in support of women."

Nargis Samim, another female journalist, said, "The Taliban's actions are unacceptable. They think that all people are simpletons from the plains and mountains, while people's minds have changed so much that it will never be possible for the Taliban to silence the voices of the people."

Nevertheless, media activists say that female journalists also have suffered the most over the past twenty years; as soon as the path for their media work became somewhat open, the Taliban silenced their voices.

Diana Soroush, one of the media activists, said: "In the beginning, Afghan women experienced many harms, including family restrictions, negative societal attitudes, and even assassinations. But when, about eight to ten years ago, broader opportunities for them became available, the Taliban took power and destroyed all of women's achievements."

It is worth noting that recently, not only have the Taliban imposed additional restrictions and bans on the activities of female journalists, but following the issuance of these decrees, domestic media in Afghanistan have also been forced to either cease operations or resort to self-censorship.

This comes as Afghanistan ranked 178th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders index for 2024.