Human rights groups are reacting with fury after a further curtailing of women’s rights in Afghanistan. New laws brought in last month impose severe new restrictions on women that oblige them to not only cover their faces, but also forbid them from raising their voices or reading aloud in public. Although Western countries and blocs like the US and EU have condemned the new laws, NGOs say much more could and should be done. In Perspective, we spoke to Heather Barr, interim women's rights deputy director for Human Rights Watch.