Afghan women were barred from entering an amusement park in Kabul on Wednesday after the Taliban’s ethics ministry said there would be restrictions on women’s access to public parks.
A spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Poverty (MPVPV) confirmed that women would have restricted access to the parks when contacted by Reuters for comment, but did not respond to requests for further details.
It was unclear how widely the restrictions applied or how they affected an earlier MPVPV rule that said parks must be segregated by gender and certain days must be set aside for women.
Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesman for the Taliban command, did not respond to a request for comment.
At a Kabul amusement park that featured rides such as bumper cars and a Ferris wheel, Reuters witnesses saw several women being led away by park employees, with Taliban operatives monitoring the situation.
Masooma, a Kabul resident who asked that only her name be published for security reasons and said she was turned away with her grandchild, added: “When a mother comes with her children, they should be allowed to enter the park because they the children have not seen anything good … they must play and be entertained.’
Two amusement park operators who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue said they were told by Taliban officials not to allow women into their parks.
Since taking over Afghanistan last year, the Islamist Taliban have said women must not leave home without a male relative and must cover their faces, although some women in urban centers ignore the rule and some women have been allowed to work in government offices.
The group has also criticized a reversal of signals that girls’ high schools would open in March.
Western governments have said the group must reverse its march on women’s rights for any path to official recognition of the Taliban government.
The Taliban say they respect women’s rights according to their interpretation of Islamic law.
