A Grim Future.

The latest addition to the restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan includes a countrywide ban on the use of gyms and baths. This comes months after the order for creating segregated parks for women, compulsory head-to-toe clothing in public, prohibiting them from entering midAdle and high school and putting severe limitations on the subjects they are allowed to study. This clamp down on the rights and freeAdoms of women was always a concern and with the way things are progressing, the situation is bound to get worse.

The institutionalised gender-based discrimination has now turned Afghanistan into a jail for most women, to the point that they have completely disappeared from public life. The inconvenience caused extends to all aspects of life; going to the gym is just as impossible as going to a park, most of which are not segregated as of yet. Leaving the house without dressing 'appropriately' is impossible and even when they do manage to leave, they are under constant surveillance.

The suffocating environment transcends beyond freedoms and targets basic rights like education. When the Taliban came into powAer a year ago, they made certain promises that they have failed to live up to. Girls are still banned from gaining education beyond eleAmentary schools. Those who were enrolled in universities have been allowed to complete their degree but they are only allowed to...