Taliban in Herat: The Delicate Voice of This Female Reporter Provokes Us

Agents of this department have verbally instructed the heads of some television media outlets in the province not to allow women to anchor the news.

According to one of the officials of a television media outlet in Herat, head of the agents of the Taliban's Department for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the province told him: "You must remove this young lady who reads the news. The delicate voice of this female reporter provokes us. On one hand, it’s prayer time, and on the other hand, we see the provocative voice of this girl being broadcast on television."

According to the source, the Taliban are attempting to systematically remove women and girls from the media.

This order from the Taliban's Department for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has caused concern among a number of female journalists in Herat province.

Rubika, one of the journalists, described the Taliban's strict laws as the group's fight against women and girls, saying: "Since the first day the Taliban came, we have been sitting with our hand under chin, waiting to see what orders the Taliban will give. Look at their own daughters, they participate in dance concerts abroad, yet the Taliban here are fighting against women and girls."

Sharmila, another female journalist in Herat province, tells Zan TV: "The world must support us women because the Taliban’s war against the people is not over. Of course, today they don't fight with guns, but the Taliban fighters have started their war with knowledge and education, with the education of women and girls. And today, with my voice, which represents the voice of hundreds of freedom seekers, they are provoked."

Meanwhile, some women's rights activists have described this action by the Taliban as a violation of women's fundamental and legal rights and have emphasized the need to remove the restrictions imposed by this group.

Najla Hashimi, one of the women’s rights activists, says: "Women were created to live, not just to exist. Today, the Taliban, with their imposed restrictions, have deprived women of their fundamental, human, and human rights."

The Taliban's Department for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat calls the voices of women in the media provocative, while, according to officials of the Afghanistan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC), the Taliban banned the voices of women from the media in Balkh, Takhar, and Jowzjan provinces on the 12 of December, 2021.