Curtains Drop Between Afghan College Students After Taliban's Segregation Decree

Afghanistan university students of opposite genders will have to sit behind curtains segregating them from each other following the Taliban's orders, local reports circulating online show. Aside from the fundamentalist group's decree asking for women to compulsorily don the niqab (a face cover) at private universities, new conservative rules state male and female students attending college must either be seated in separate classes or with a divider between them so as to minimise contact.

A photo tweeted by Afghan journalist Tamim Hamid of TOLO News gives a look at the new arrangement from Kabul, as claimed by them.

#Kabul;#University_Students pic.twitter.com/poNRrQuMtV

— Tamim Hamid (@tamim_hamid) September 6, 2021

The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, marked on August 15, has prompted a sequence of pushbacks on the rights and regular movements of citizens, especially women who, as they anticipated, are facing multiple threats to political representation, education and public work.

Notorious for their oppressive regime in Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban's return refreshes memories of the country's women who suffered and lost the most the last time around, as activists and educators have told SheThePeople. 

The Taliban have even reportedly admitted their armed gunmen are "not trained" to co-exist with and respect women in public spaces. Read here.

For Afghanistan University Students, New Orders Cut Contact Between Peers

As per reports over the weekend, a document issued by the Taliban details university classroom rules for those attending, with heavy insistence on the segregation of genders on campus. Applicable to private universities in the country, the education orders maintain the genders of students and professors should correspond - ie, male teachers must teach male students, same for female teachers and students.

Afghan women raising issue over this decree claim it contains a fallacy since the Taliban's coming has also seriously hindered women's mobility in public and the group has advised women to work from home until "women related procedures" are in place. Women educators and professors in Afghanistan too are comparatively fewer than their male counterparts.

The Taliban's document states further that only "old men" of good character, besides female teachers, can teach women at universities.

As per an AFP report, women "must also end their lesson five minutes earlier than men to stop them from mingling outside." Last month, the Taliban banned co-education in Herat, according to reports, claiming it was the "root of all evils in society."

Image: Tamim Hamid, TOLO News / Twitter

Suggested reading 

Hey World, Are You Listening? Afghan Girls And Women In Crisis Are Asking

What Is Sharia Law? Here’s Why Afghan Women Are Wary Of Taliban Rule

“Been A Fierce Taliban Critic. Don’t Know If I’ll Survive Now” — Afghan Women Activists

Trending now: 

&t=5s