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Afghanistan's Taliban government has banned women from appearing in television dramas.

In total, eight new guidelines were introduced, including an order for female journalists and presenters to wear headscarves on screen, reported the BBC.

Other antediluvian restrictions included a prohibition on films considered against the principles of Sharia law and Afghan values, and the depiction of unclothed male torsos.

DW News reported the new guidelines came despite earlier promises from the Taliban that their latest reign would be more moderate.

Already, the militant Islamist group has instructed girls and young women to stay home from school, an echo of the Taliban's rule in the 1990s when women weren't allowed to work or receive formal education.

In the capital city of Kabul, the mayor has told all female municipal employees not to come to work unless their jobs can't be fulfilled by a man.

Gap for women getting bigger every day

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, leader of UN Women in Asia-Pacific Mohammad Naciri described the gap between the Taliban's promises and the reality on the ground as getting "bigger and bigger every day".

"They said education ‘yes’, yet chancellors of universities are banning women or young women from going to the university. They said women would have a space in the ruling [structures] and their share is low. Women are nowhere … to be found in the senior structure in the country,” Naciri said.

Naciri also called for UN member states to put the rights of women and girls at the centre of discussions with authorities in Afghanistan.

"When they have a conversation, it has to be conditional on the rights of women and girls," he said to SCMP.

"Those conversations are not to be consummated unless they ensure that the women and girls are the centre of them."

According to the BBC, the Taliban have claimed that their restrictions on women working and girls studying are "temporary" and only in place to ensure all workplaces and learning environments are "safe" for them.

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