Many women have been brutally whipped in public by Taliban guards wielding long chains, for any perceived transgression from these rules. The Taliban forbid girls from attending school and receiving an education. Men were also ordered to grow long beards and pray in the mosque five times a day. Music was banned, along with photographs and children's games such as kite flying. These bands are imposed arbitrarily.
Punishment includes severe beatings and possible execution.
The impact of Taliban restrictions on women is most acutely felt in cities such as Herat and Kabul where there are significant numbers of educated and professional women, compared with rural areas where women have been traditionally excluded from public life. Kabul University, which has closed since the Taliban took over, reportedly had about 8,000 women students while thousands of professional women worked in different capacities in the city. In Herat about 3,000 women reportedly lost their jobs after the Taliban took control in September 1995. There are credible reports that many women, especially professional women, now house bound, have attempted suicide by swallowing household cleaner, rather than continuing to live under these conditions. In Kabul many women wore the burqa before the Taliban took control.