If no hijab, no healthcare, warns Taliban

Kabul, March 17

The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, in a letter to the Health Ministry earlier this month, warned that healthcare services should be denied to women who do not observe the Islamic hijab.

The Taliban initially ordered women not to return to work. But it later called women health workers back to clinics and hospitals, although many were too scared to resume work.

Rights groups say gender segregation has created barriers to women and girls accessing healthcare. At many facilities, patients are only treated by a health professional of the same sex, RFE/RL reported. — IANS

#hijab #Taliban