Afghan female activists gather in Kabul to protest against Taliban restrictions on Sept. 19. Photo: Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
New restrictions issued by the Taliban on Sunday will force the majority of Kabul's female municipal workers out of their jobs, the Associated Press reported.
Why it matters: Despite the Taliban's efforts to cast a more tempered image this time around, vowing to respect women's rights within Islamic "frameworks," the restrictions are the latest sign the group is returning to the oppressive tactics it used when last in power, from 1996 to 2001.
- Many Afghan women and girls have expressed fear for the loss of their rights and freedoms with the Taliban's return to power.
The big picture: Only city employees who cannot be replaced by men will be allowed to return to their jobs, per AP.
- The Taliban has also said that women will not be allowed to work in government ministries alongside men, Reuters reported.
- While the Taliban has said that women will be allowed to attend segregated universities where a strict dress code is enforced, on Saturday the group reopened secondary schools only for boys and male teachers.
- Earlier this week, the group replaced Afghanistan's women's ministry with the "Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice."
- A number of women's rights protests in Afghanistan have been violently dispersed by the Taliban.