Yet another restriction: Afghan women banned from visiting National Park

The Taliban has banned women from visiting one of Afghanistan’s most popular national parks, a decision that says a lot about Taliban attitudes toward women that already prevented them from education and workplaces.

Taliban’s acting minister of virtue and voice, Mohammad Khaled Hanafi, in an astonishing announcement said that women were banned from visiting Band-e-Amir in Bamiyan province, citing observing the proper way to wear the hijab while visiting the park.

He said that the Taliban security forces will stop women from going to the park, saying that “going sightseeing is not a must for women.”

Band-e-Amir is a significant tourist attraction and it was named as Afghanistan’s first national park in 2009. The park is a popular destination for families to enjoy the beauty of the park which is surrounded by the water, but the ban on women will prevent many people from being able to enjoy this beauty.

This park is also a major source of income for the local people, including restaurants, hotels, and handicraft business.

Taliban should explain the ban on women visiting the national park

UNESCO has described the park as “a naturally created group of lakes with special geological formations and structure.”

Afghan women walk by a waterfall in the Band-e Amir National Park on August 12, 2022.

However, now women are banned from visiting this beautiful place. Sayed Nasrullah Waezi, head of Bamiyan Ulema Council said that people have complained that female visitors were not observing hijab. “Women visitors were not following the rules and they were careless about hijab,” he added.

An ex-Afghan female MP, Mariam Solaimankhil shared a poem on her X, known as twitter, and said “we will return, I’m sure of it.”

Meanwhile, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan called on the Taliban to explain the ban on women visiting the national park. “Can someone please explain why this restriction on women visiting Band-e-Amir is necessary to comply with Sharia and Afghan culture?” Bennett questioned in a twitter post.

Rights defender says walls are closing in on women

Meanwhile, Heather Barr, at Human Rights Watch, condemned the Taliban decision saying “walls are closing in on women” in Afghanistan.

She added: “Not content with depriving girls and women of education, employment, and free movement, the Taliban also want to take from them parks and sport and now even nature. Step by step the walls are closing in on women as every home becomes a prison.”

It is worth mentioning that the ban on the visit in the national park is the latest in a long list of activities that women have been prevented since the return of the Taliban in the power in August 2021.

In the latest crackdown, the Taliban closed hair and beauty salons across
Afghanistan and in July, the Taliban banned women from attending the national university entrance exams nationwide.

Women also banned working outside the home

Women are banned from working in most sectors outside the home, according to a UN report released in June. The women are already prevented from attending public baths, parks, and gyms.

The women are also not allowed to leave home with any result and must be accompanied by a male partner. The ban on women’s visit to National Park compiled after a week-long visit to Afghanistan by Richard Bennett, who now seeks explanation from the Taliban on this decision.

“Women and girls in Afghanistan are experiencing severe discrimination that may amount to gender persecution – a crime against humanity – and be characterized as gender apartheid,” the report found.

There is a grave concern about the absence of legal protections for women and girls, and the normalization of discrimination and violence against women.

According to the report, women and girls have no recourse to justice, and very limited access to female lawyers, who have not been issued licenses unlike their male colleagues.