Sanah, 25, walks along the main road in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, with a group of ladies from her area most mornings after prayer. They never jog or get too close to the numerous Taliban checkpoints.
In a nation where women are prohibited from participating in sports by the Taliban administration, they work out covertly and for their mental and physical well-being rather than for competitive reasons.
The Taliban checkpoint is too close for us to approach because they ask us why we are leaving the house so early. To what destination are you heading? “Why do you need to exercise? You don’t have to, so don’t,” urged Sanah, who, like all the women AFP spoke with, had her name altered out of fear of retaliation.
Under the Taliban regime, women are subjected to severe legal limitations that have been called “gender apartheid” by the UN.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice declared in November 2022 that women were not allowed in parks or gyms because they were not following a clothing code that required them to cover up.
Women used to be able to reserve time slots in gyms, and although there are still a few unofficial, low-key women-only fitness clubs, they are uncommon.Sanah liked to stroll through the city’s expansive parks, which are dotted with trees, with her friend Latifah, who is middle-aged.
When Latifah last visited the park near her home, it was shortly after it had been declared permanently off-limits to women. She cried again remembering the incident.
“The doctor told me to exercise more because I have high cholesterol and fatty liver, but the Taliban don’t let us exercise or go to the gym or walk (freely) outside,” she stated.
After their stroll, Sanah leads the group in light aerobic activities and meditation. She aspires to become a yoga instructor.
Sanah says, softly, “Take a deep breath,” as she presses her thumb and forefinger together on her knees in the yellow dawn light, away from prying eyes on a covered balcony.
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