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The new Taliban regime in Afghanistan has started to enforce gender segregation in the country. Higher education minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out a series of rules that will govern women’s access to higher education. Haqqani said women would be allowed to continue their university education, but it would be compulsory to wear a hijab. It was not clear if this meant a headscarf or that women should cover their faces completely. Tim Franks speaks to Afghan academic Dr Bahar Jalali, who taught in the American University of Afghanistan and founded the first Gender Studies Programme in the country. She now lives in the United States. What does she think of the new measures? Photo shows: Afghan students in the Shaheed Rabbani Education University in Kabul, Afghanistan, 11 September 2021. Credit: EPA