Women in Afghanistan have been banned from making lengthy journeys by road unless they are accompanied by a male relative.
"Women travelling for more than 45 miles (72km) should not be offered a ride if they are not accompanied by a close family member," said a spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, specifying that the relative must be a male.
Drivers were also told not to give a lift to any woman not wearing a headscarf and to stop playing music.
Heather Barr of the campaign group Human Rights Watch told AFP that the ban, "shuts off opportunities for [women] to be able to move about freely... [or] to be able to flee if they are facing violence in the home".
"I felt really bad," Fatima, a midwife living in Kabul, told the BBC, after hearing the news.
"I cannot go out independently. What should I do if either I or my child is sick and my husband is not available?
"The Taliban captured our happiness from us... I have lost both my independence and happiness,” she concluded.
Taliban militants are seen inside the Ghazni city, eastern Afghanistan, Aug. 12, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)Despite their historic hostility to gender equality, the Taliban promised when they returned to power in August to respect women’s rights.
However, the new law is another indication that the rights of women in the country will be slowly whittled away; secondary schools have been open to boys only since the Taliban’s return to power - although they insist this is only a “temporary” measure while the education system is made safe for girls.
Television dramas have been banned from using female actresses and women journalists have been ordered to wear a headscarf while presenting the news as well.
Aid
The United Nations has raised concerns that Afghanistan is facing an "avalanche of hunger" in 2022 and last week the United States announced it would change the definition of humanitarian aid to help organisations in the country.
Aid workers had been complaining for months that US sanctions on the Taliban made it extremely difficult to provide ordinary Afghans with help.
Main image: People prepare to board a flight during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 24th, 2021. Picture by: David Branson / Alamy Stock Photo.
