In its latest move to erase Afghan women and girls from society, the Taliban has introduced a new law: women are no longer allowed to hear the voices of other women. This extreme measure, framed as a form of Islamic law enforcement, was announced through an audio message by Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, Afghanistan’s minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.

The details of this ruling remain unclear, but human rights advocates are raising alarm over its potential implications. Some fear it could extend to an outright ban on women communicating with one another altogether.

Hanafi’s message emphasized that even during prayers, women should not speak loud enough for other women to hear. He said these are “new rules and will be gradually implemented, and God will be helping us in each step we take.”

This new decree follows the Taliban’s August ban on women speaking in public, claiming a woman's voice is “awrah”—something to be concealed—and should not be heard, even by other women.

Intensifying restrictions on Afghan women and girls are fueling a widespread mental health crisis. Globally, studies by the World Health Organization show that men are twice as likely as women to commit suicide. However, around 80% of all suicide attempts in Afghanistan are made by women. According to a CNN report late last year, the number of female patients at mental health clinics surged by 40% to 50% after the Taliban’s return, and about 10% of those patients take their own lives.

“We are treated worse than animals,” a 22-year-old Afghan woman told More to Her Story. “I want to die.”

Since the Taliban took power in August 2021, they have systematically stripped away women’s rights, including banning girls from attending secondary school and university. UNESCO reported that at least 1.4 million girls have been deliberately denied access to secondary education since the Taliban's takeover, an increase of 300,000 since April 2023. Including those already out of school before the ban, about 2.5 million girls are now deprived of education, representing 80% of all school-age girls in Afghanistan.

“I really don’t know what to say anymore,” says a 23-year-old woman in Kabul, whose identity will remain anonymous. “I think here is our hell.”