Taliban orders women to wear burkas to enter hospitals

If women in Afghanistan want access to medical care, no matter the emergency, they must be fully covered from head to toe, according to a new report from international medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). The restrictions were issued Nov. 5 and resulted in an immediate drop in the number of hospital admissions across the country. The Taliban has denied MSF’s report, which says the ruling could result in further limits to women’s access to health care, something that was already difficult for many women to obtain. Women are not allowed to speak in public in Afghanistan, nor can they leave their homes without a male family member.