By singing on social media, these women defy the Taliban who forbid them from making their voices heard in public spaces

The Taliban regime has just enacted new restrictions aimed at erasing women. In response, dozens of women are singing their refusal to submit to these laws on social media.

These Afghan women refuse to be erased from public space. While the Taliban regime promulgated a new law at the end of August regulating the lives of women even more, dozens of them are protesting on the networks. This legislation, which includes 35 articles and which is added to an already particularly discriminatory regime, prohibits women from singing, reciting a poem or reading aloud in public.

In response to these new restrictions, dozens of Afghan women, inside the country and abroad, have posted videos of themselves singing on social media, accompanied by messages: “My voice is not forbidden” And “No to the Taliban”.

The founder of the NGO Afghan Peace Watch, Habib Khan, relayed one of these videos, which was apparently filmed in Afghanistan. Behind her long black veil, a woman sings virulent criticism of the Taliban regime: “You have silenced me for years to come. You imprisoned me in my home for the sole crime of being a woman.”

Others testify with their faces uncovered, like this young woman, who sings while adjusting her veil in front of a mirror. In this video, accompanied by the hashtag #No_to_taliban, Taiba Sulaimani denounces this silencing. The new law requires Afghan women to no longer let the sound of their voices go beyond the walls of their homes. “A woman’s voice is her identity, not something that should be hidden.” She adds: “You call my voice naked. But I will sing the anthem of freedom!”

Several videos of activist groups are circulating online. IHere, a group of women sing in chorus behind an Afghan flag, their faces and hands painted red. Other groups have posted videos showing them raising their fists or tearing up photos of the Taliban’s supreme leader, Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The movement is being picked up around the world, with many women expressing their support for Afghan women. Zala Zazai, a former police officer living in Poland, is also making her voice heard. “You consider my body and voice as naked, I will sing for my right”she writes on X, performing in a video a song about the resilience of women, by the Afghan artist Aryana Sayeed.

Restrictions on women in Afghanistan are “unacceptable”she told AFP. “Afghan women have finally understood that misogynists can no longer deny our human rights in the name of religion and culture. And our voices demanding our rights will never be silenced.”

“We, the Afghan women, have shaken the palace of your authoritarian regime and we will destroy it”sings Tahmina Salik, another women’s rights activist. The video, reposted by human rights defender Jahanzeb Wesa, is accompanied by the hashtag #GenderApartheid.

For three years, half of the Afghan population has been deprived of basic rights. For the Taliban government’s main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, the criticism of this law reflects a “arrogance” and a misunderstanding of Sharia law.

These Afghan women who sing with their faces uncovered on social networks expose themselves to many risks. “If the Taliban find them, they or their family members could be detained, tortured, or even killed.”says Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch near Release. In the past, “The Taliban have often responded to such protests with violence.”she recalls again.

On Tuesday, the UN called for the repeal of the law targeting women, calling it “totally intolerable”. This one “reinforces policies that completely erase the presence of women in public space, silencing their voices and depriving them of their individual autonomy, thus attempting to reduce them to the state of faceless and voiceless shadows”said the spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ravina Shamdasani.