Going out alone

is something we take for granted here. Women do it all the time - most women.

Yesterday I left home mid-morning. I went to visit the Senior Cat - and return his washing. Then I pedalled off to the clinic to have my second Covid jab. I was wearing a head covering - the compulsory helmet and a face mask because of the current risk. 

But, my hands were free and I was - shock and horror - wearing jeans. 

I did a little essential shopping on my own.

On my way home I stopped for a moment to speak to someone. He had spoken to me earlier and asked for some information for his wife.  Yes, he's a man. He is not related to me but I spoke to him anyway and I did it while I was on my own.

Nearer to home I spoke to the couple who were  coming back from the railway station with their young granddaughter.

Now if I lived in Afghanistan it is likely that once again I would have had to wait until a male relative was ready to take me to the clinic - if it had been decided that I would be allowed to have the vaccination and it was available and they had been prepared to pay for it. Nothing else would have happened under the Taliban's version of "Sharia law". I would have been escorted there, escorted back and required to do precisely as I was told and without complaint. If I did not then my male relatives would have the right to beat me. Disobeying outside the home could lead to twenty-nine lashes in public. I would be a disgrace. I would have brought shame on my family.

Anyone who believes that the Taliban are not going to reinstate their old ways is being seriously misled. They will.