Taliban officials have banned women from gyms in Afghanistan because girls allegedly ignore orders of gender segregation and do not wear hijabs or other head coverings. Women have also been banned from parks, ABC News reported.

The ban went into effect this week. Mohammed Akef Mohajer, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Ministry of Vice and Virtue, noted that the government was doing everything possible to avoid closing parks and gyms to women.

“But, unfortunately, the orders were not obeyed and the rules were violated, and we had to close parks and gyms for women,” said Mohajer.

“In most cases, we have seen both men and women together in parks and, unfortunately, the hijab was not observed. So we had to come up with another decision and for now, we ordered all parks and gyms to be closed for women.”

After the Taliban took Kabul without a fight on August 15, 2021, and declared full control over the territory of the country, there are regular reports of human rights violations in the country. Human rights defenders are also concerned about the situation of women's rights.