In Afghanistan, the Taliban has approved a wide-ranging morality law that forces women to completely cover their bodies and remain silent in public. The law will be enforced by the morality police, who work under the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. The law codifies many rules that have been in place since the Taliban returned to power three years ago. The law has been widely condemned. This is Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ravina Shamdasani: “These are partners who are being completely silenced, and they’re attempting to render them into shadows. Their voices are no longer permissible. Education is no longer permissible. You cannot even see their faces. This needs to stop, and we need to continue talking about it. We need to continue advocating for it and putting pressure on the authorities to listen.”

Afghan women have been defying the Taliban’s edicts in videos posted on social media or shared with human rights groups. This woman living inside Afghanistan concealed her identity as she recorded herself singing, “You have silenced my voice until further notice. You have imprisoned me in my home for the crime of being a woman.”

Afghan woman: “You have silenced my voice until further notice. You have imprisoned me in my home for the crime of being a woman.”