Taliban: Women must be covered from head to toe

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban government decreed Saturday that Afghan women must cover themselves from head to toe, expanding a series of onerous restrictions on women that dictate nearly every aspect of public life.

The government’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice suggested the burqa as the preferred garment for covering a woman’s face, hair and body. But it did not mandate wearing the garment as long as women otherwise cover themselves with a hijab.

The full-body burqa, long emblematic of patriarchal control of women’s public attire in Afghanistan, was described by the ministry as “the good and complete hijab.”

Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August, Afghan women have been subjected to a cascade of announcements restricting their employment, education, travel, deportment and other aspects of public life. Many had assumed that the return of a burqa-style body covering was the inevitable next step.

The burqa, which leaves only a woman’s hands and feet visible and includes a stitched facial netting for vision, was required by the Taliban when it ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

The ministry’s definition of “hijab” Saturday described a garment that “should not be too short or too tight,” the ministry announcement said. The intent was to obscure the outlines of a woman’s body, the ministry said.

In public announcements regarding women in recent months, the government has often delivered vaguely worded proclamations left open to interpretation. Wary of Western condemnation as the Taliban government seeks diplomatic recognition and humanitarian aid, many announcements have appeared to rely on inference and intimidation.

But the ministry, which is responsible for enforcing the government’s interpretation of Islamic law, was quite specific Saturday about punishments for the male head of family of women who fail to adhere to the latest decree.

At a three-hour news conference dominated by pronouncements promoting the religious virtues of the burqa, ministry officials and Islamic religious figures dictated a series of escalating punishments — including jail time for male family heads who repeatedly disregard warnings from government officials regarding women’s attire.

Since the Taliban takeover in August, more women in Kabul appear to have begun wearing burqas. But the majority of women on the streets of the capital have continued to wear less encompassing versions of hijabs, with many covering only their hair and leaving most or all of their faces still visible.