The
male
tv
anchors
of
Afghanistan
are
now
covering
their
faces
by
wearing
masks
in
support
of
their
female
colleagues.
The
male
tv
anchors
made
this
move
after
the
Taliban
ordered
all
women
working
on
news
channels
to
cover
their
faces.
This
protest
is
named
#FreeHerFace
on
social
media.
In
the
recent
pictures
that
have
been
circulating
online,
the
men
on
the
TOLO
News
channel
posed
with
their
female
colleagues,
wearing
masks.
This
movement
by
the
male
TV
anchors
intends
to
mimic
the
effect
of
face
masks
worn
by
their
female
colleagues
by
force.
Image
Courtesy:
EPA
As
reported
earlier,
many
female
news
anchors
had
reportedly
refused
the
Taliban's
order
to
conceal
their
appearance
on
TV.
But
they
finally
had
to
give
in,
as
their
employers
were
under
pressure.
The
women
from
TOLO
news,
Ariana
Television,
Shamshad
TV
and
1TV,
and
other
popular
channels
have
been
wearing
hijabs
and
face-covering
veils
while
presenting
news
bulletins
and
other
programs.
"Two
Taliban
members
came
to
our
office
and
said
the
decision
on
compulsory
masks
for
female
anchors
must
be
implemented.
We
had
an
office
meeting
and
had
to
accept
the
Taliban
order,
but
decided
that
male
colleagues
should
also
wear
masks
and
stand
by
female
colleagues," told
Lema
Spesali,
who
is
a
news
anchor
for
1TV
in
Kabul,
to
the
Guardian.
According
to
Lema,
she
was
given
the
news
of
the
Taliban's
latest
decree
on
arrival
at
work
on
Sunday
morning.