Afghanistan, once again under Taliban control, has become a prison for its women. In the three years since the Taliban’s return to power, they have unleashed a wave of repressive laws that target women specifically. The latest decrees, issued by the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, are aimed at further erasing women from public life. Banned from raising their voices in public, reciting the Quran in the open, or even looking at men who are not their husbands or relatives, Afghan women are subjected to a regime that seeks to control every aspect of their lives.

The Taliban’s latest measures represent a significant escalation in their assault on women’s rights. These rules are not entirely new—they reflect long-standing practices rooted in the group’s interpretation of Islamic law. However, by formalizing these restrictions, the Taliban have made it clear that any hope for a more moderate government has been extinguished.

In urban centers like Kabul, where women once had relative freedom, the Taliban’s morality police are now omnipresent. Women are watched constantly, punished for minor infractions, and........

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