Photo Of Chained Women Has Been Altered
The Claim
A photo shows Afghan women in shackles, walking behind a man who appears to be their keeper.
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Emerging story
Circulating on social media this week is a photo of three women in black burkas with chains attached to their legs. They are being led by a man in front, who appears to be their keeper. Social media users sharing the image assumed that the man was a member of the Taliban.
Misbar’s Analysis
MENA: The photo has been altered. No chains are visible in the original photograph, which was taken in Baghdad in 2003, not Afghanistan. It was first published on the photography blog Trek Earth and has been circulating on other blogs and platforms since then.
It was taken by Istanbul-based photographer Murat Düzyol, who told Associated Press that the four people pictured were walking home after a ceremony that commemorated civilians who were killed in the city of Erbil. He said that the women only happened to be walking closely behind the man, and he wasn’t sure that they knew each other.
The photo is circulating amidst news of the Taliban’s return to power. Many Afghans are fearing for their futures, and women are afraid of a return to the Taliban’s oppressive policies of the past, when women were not allowed to hold jobs or attend school, and could not leave their homes without a male escort. Repercussions for breaking these rules included public beatings and executions.
