Ah, the rag room, know it well.

It was a frequent haunt back in one's teaching days, no?

A calm respite from the classroom to be sure. A nice quiet place to do some marking.

Oh, you'd have to keep a few virgins off Facebook for a bit, but at belltime they'd become their fathers' problem. The important thing was to keep them uninseminated for the day - no easy task in co-ed. It gave one a newfound respect for the policies of the Taliban, I must say.

No need for rag rooms there. They keep them out of school entirely.

The Taliban’s broader, systematic policies create a situation where menstruating women are effectively isolated and denied care:

*Systemic Exclusion from Public Life: The Taliban has implemented sweeping bans that prevent women from attending school (above grade 6), visiting parks, gyms, and, in many areas, using public bathhouses (hammams). This forces women to remain at home, including during their periods.

*Lack of Access to Hygiene Products: Cultural taboos, compounded by the restriction of women's movement, make it difficult for women and girls to purchase essential menstrual hygiene products.

*Restriction on Health Services: The Taliban requires women to be accompanied by a mahram (male guardian) to access healthcare, and they have restricted women from seeing male doctors. This, combined with a ban on women training as nurses and midwives, severely limits access to gynecological and reproductive care.

*Cultural Taboos and Misinformation: Due to the closure of schools and the restriction of women from public spaces, there is a severe lack of education about menstrual hygiene. This is exacerbated by cultural, deeply traditional taboos where, in some areas, menstruating girls are restricted from touching certain items or are locked away.

In essence, while there might not be a specific "period ban," the Taliban’s policies create a "total exclusion" of women from public life, significantly increasing the difficulty for them to manage their menstrual health safely.