The Taliban has imposed a new restriction in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province, barring women from being treated by male dentists, according to local media reports.
As reported by Al Arabiya, the Taliban instructed clinics to deny female patients treatment by male practitioners and removed women from these facilities. This latest move follows the group’s recent ban on what it deemed “bold” poetry and adds to the long list of restrictions placed on women since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Women and girls in Afghanistan are already banned from attending universities, secondary schools, and most workplaces. Additionally, parks, gyms, and sports facilities have been closed to them, and female athletes are prohibited from competing internationally. Access to the internet has also been restricted in some provinces, cutting off online education and communication for families.
In December 2022, the Taliban banned women from higher education and extended this ban to medical training. This month, the authorities removed books authored by women from Afghanistan’s university curriculum, including works on human rights and sexual harassment. Among the 680 titles deemed “of concern” were 140 authored by women.
International human rights organizations and foreign bodies have condemned these growing restrictions, warning of the increasing erasure of women from public life in Afghanistan.
