"Women Banned from Using Public Baths"... Taliban Deprives Even the Right to Wash with Warm Water

"Order to Cut Female Mannequin Heads"

Last August, Taliban fighters who seized Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, took control of the presidential palace. / Photo by AP Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] The Islamic extremist armed group Taliban, which has taken control of Afghanistan, has issued an order banning women from using public bathhouses.

On the 7th (local time), the British Guardian reported, "The Taliban ordered women in the northern Afghan regions of Balkh and Herat not to use public bathhouses. This is because women exposing their bodies in public places is considered against Sharia (Islamic law)."

The Taliban also banned women from using public bathhouses during their rule in the late 1990s. As a result, bathhouses were left abandoned for years and only revived after the Taliban was ousted by the United States in 2001.

Public bathhouses are places where Afghans can warm themselves with hot water during the winter months when temperatures drop below freezing. Afghan women have barely managed to use public bathhouses by saving small amounts of money.

However, due to this Taliban measure, women who cannot properly wash themselves are expected not only to be unable to escape the cold but also to suffer adverse health effects.

A 26-year-old woman living in Herat raised her voice in an interview with the Guardian, saying, "There are no bathing facilities at home, so I had no choice but to rely on public bathhouses. But even this opportunity has been taken away by the Taliban."

The Afghan nonprofit organization Vision for Children explained, "Most households in Herat and Balkh do not have the ability or facilities to heat large amounts of water for bathing. Therefore, they rely on public bathhouses in winter."

International human rights organization Human Rights Watch also stated, "Banning women from the only means to escape the cold without any reason is a cruel act. We have consistently heard the concerns of Afghan women that the situation would worsen after the Taliban took power in Afghanistan. And we are now seeing evidence that their claims were correct."

A mannequin displayed with its head cut off.
Photo by AFP

Meanwhile, earlier this month, the Taliban ordered merchants in the Herat region to completely cover the faces of mannequins or even remove the heads of mannequins altogether.

According to ABC News, Aziz Rahman, head of the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat, said, "The appearance of female mannequins violates Islamic doctrine," and instructed that the heads of female mannequins in stores in western Afghanistan be cut off.

Since Sharia law includes the worship of a monotheistic God, sculptures, paintings, mannequins, toys, and other human-shaped figures are considered taboo cultural products. This is because they could be worshipped like gods other than the one true God.

Accordingly, the Taliban initially tried to ban the use of female mannequins in stores altogether, but after merchants complained, they instructed that instead of removing the mannequins, their heads be cut off or their faces covered.

Locally, there are growing concerns that such restrictions, including banning the use of mannequins amid the complete collapse of the Afghan economy since the Taliban took power, will lead to financial losses for merchants.