From August, the sound of women's voices were banned in Afghanistan. Now it's even worse.

In a chilling new move, the Taliban has further restricted Afghan women's freedoms, now banning them from even hearing each other's voices in public.

The latest ban is yet another devastating blow to their last means of connection.

The edict, issued by the Minister for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, Khalid Hanafi, was explained as an extension of the concept of "awrah," or what must remain unseen and 'covered' in public.

"Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear," Hanafi stated in his message.

"When women are not permitted to call takbir or athan [Islamic call to prayer], they certainly cannot sing songs or [make] music," he said. "How could they be allowed to sing if they aren't even permitted to hear (each other's) voices while praying, let alone for anything else."

Activists and international leaders have called this measure an aggressive escalation of Taliban policies already oppressing women, prohibiting them from schools, parks, workplaces, and even social spaces.

Amnesty International's Zaki Haidari warned the situation for women and girls in Afghanistan is "growing darker by the day".

"The Taliban is methodically punishing women, seemingly testing how far they can push before the world responds," Haidari told news.com.au.

He added that the regime now "feels empowered, believing they have the power to erase women entirely from public life and society".

The Australian Hazara Advocacy Network's Zohal Azra also condemned the edict, telling the publication, "It is hard to imagine the situation getting worse after the Taliban banned women's voices and faces in public last month, but with this latest decree, we have seen that the Taliban's capacity to inflict harm on women has no limits."

"Since returning to power in Afghanistan the Taliban has effectively erased women and girls from public life in a methodical, and systematic approach involving over 105 decrees, edicts, and orders that are enforced violently and arbitrarily, including through detention, sexual abuse, torture and cruel, inhuman, or other degrading treatment and punishment such stoning and whipping women and girls."

Azra added, "The situation is so dire that it requires urgent global intervention to support women in Afghanistan. Through these decrees, the Taliban has established a system of gender apartheid."

In response, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and other leaders have filed a gender discrimination case against the Taliban at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Wong reiterated that Australia, a participant in the Afghan war for two decades, "will not stand by and allow the situation in Afghanistan to become a 'new normal.'"

"The Taliban has demonstrated contempt for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan, through a campaign of sustained and systematic oppression," Senator Wong said.

Afghan women living in Kabul told The Telegraph, "Whatever he [Khalid Hanafi] says is a form of mental torture for us.

"Living in Afghanistan is incredibly painful for us as women. Afghanistan is forgotten, and that's why they are suppressing us – they are torturing us on a daily basis."

Rights stripped away.

This latest edict is an extension of an existing rule put in place back in August, when Afghanistan's Taliban rulers issued a ban on women's voices and bare faces in public, in efforts to combat 'vice' and promote 'virtue'.

Since the Taliban took control in 2021, women in Afghanistan have seen their rights stripped away systematically.

Women are forbidden to speak, sing, or read aloud, and the directive built on earlier decrees preventing them from attending schools, working in most fields, or appearing in public without full-body coverings.

In a statement at the time, Afghan government spokespeople confirmed that these laws were approved by the Taliban's supreme leader.

Meryl Streep recently highlighted the severity of the situation, noting that "a squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today."

Human rights organisations and foreign governments have strongly condemned these moves.

The ministry's 'vice and virtue' laws cover aspects of everyday life like public transportation, music, shaving and celebrations. They're set out in a 114-page, 35-article document. Most of the laws are directly related to women and their autonomy.

Article 13 says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others. Clothing should not be thin, tight or short.

A woman's voice is also deemed intimate, and so should not be heard singing, reciting poetry or reading aloud in public.

It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.

Article 19 bans the playing of music, the transportation of solo female travellers, and the mixing of men and women who are not related to each other.

The law also obliges passengers and drivers to perform prayers at designated times.

Watch: one family's story of being held hostage by the Taliban. Post continues below.

Last year, the Taliban also banned beauty salons.

Beauty salons previously sprung up in Kabul and other cities in the months after the Taliban were driven from power in late 2001.

Many of the salons remained open after the Taliban returned to power two years ago, providing some women with jobs and a space to socialise. The salons were usually female-only and had their windows covered so customers couldn't be seen from the outside.

A few months prior to this, authorities closed most girls' high schools, barred women from university and stopped many female Afghan aid staff from working. Many public places including bathhouses, gyms and parks have also been closed to women.

All of these laws have been approved by supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, a government spokesman confirmed.

Foreign governments and United Nations officials have condemned growing restrictions on women.

- With AAP.

Feature Image: Getty.