Barred from sports, Afghan women are forced to train, exercise in secret

September 15, 2024

The Taliban authorities have implemented an austere interpretation of Islamic law, with women bearing the brunt of restrictions that the UN has labeled “gender apartheid.”

In November 2022, the Afghan Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice announced that women were barred from parks and gyms on the grounds they were not adhering to a dress code that orders them to cover up.

Gyms had previously offered time slots for women, and while some informal women-only fitness clubs still exist, they are rare and low-profile. Taipei Times