26 “How do they see where they are going?”
“They fall down a lot,” her father replied. He was right. Parvana had seen them fall p.17.
4. Women are not allowed to enter to the shop
Even though the Taliban has ordered women to stay inside, women are still allowed to go outside but they must wear burqa. For example, to go to a shop to
buy things. If a woman does not have husband or son, then she does the shopping. However, once she goes to a shop, she must stay outside the shop. There will be a
punishment for the shopkeepers who disobey the rule. An- Na’im 1998 states
male physicians cannot properly examine women patients because of the prohibitions on touching women or looking at the bodies. If the male physicians
are caught treating women, they would be beaten and thrown to jail p.17. The rule is also applied to shopkeepers who treat women inside the shop. Therefore, if
women go to a shop, women must stay outside the shop. Women were not allowed to go to into the shops. Men were supposed to do
all the shopping, but if women did it, they had to stand outside and call for what they needed. Parvana had seen shopkeepers beaten for serving women
inside their shops p54.
5. Women are not allowed to be outside alone
Women are not allowed to be outside without a companion. Once they go outside they must be accompanied by a man. An-
Na’im 1998, states the Taliban forbid women to leave their homes unless accompanied by a husband, father,
brother, or son p.11. If a woman does not have a man with her, the woman must have at least a note from her husband which says her husband allow her to go
outside. However, women are not allowed to take public transportation. “Mother
wasn’t supposed to be outside of her home without a man, or without a note from
27 her husband
” p.38. When Parvana and her mother want to go to the prison to get her father out of jail they cannot take the public transportation.
“Buses were not permitted to carry women who did not have a man with them. They would have to
walk a whole way ” p.38. It is not fair because men are allowed to take the public
transportation even when they are alone.
6. Women must walk slowly
