Taliban's 'Face Cover' rule for mannequins in Afghanistan

Taliban mannequins | Some shopkeepers complained they’d be unable to display their clothes properly or would have to damage valuable mannequins

Taliban mannequins | It also supports the Taliban’s campaign to force women out of the public eye

Taliban mannequins | They based the order on a strict interpretation of Islamic law that forbids statues and images of the human form since they could be worshiped as idols

Taliban mannequins | Not long after they seized power in August 2021, the Taliban Ministry of Vice and Virtue decreed that all mannequins must be removed from shop windows or their heads taken off.

Taliban mannequins | Initially, the Taliban wanted the mannequins to be outright beheaded

Taliban mannequins | The hooded mannequins are one symbol of the Taliban’s puritanical rule over Afghanistan. But in a way, they are also a small show of resistance and creativity by Kabul’s dress merchants

Taliban mannequins | Under the Taliban, the mannequins in women's dress shops across the Afghan capital Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads cloaked in cloth sacks or wrapped in black plastic bags

Taliban mannequins | Mannequin's heads are covered in a women's dress store in Kabul, Afghanistan

Taliban's 'Face Cover' rule for mannequins in Afghanistan | Taliban's 'Face Cover' rule for mannequins in Afghanistan