Women in the western Afghan city of Herat say they have been harassed and threatened by members of the Taliban’s notorious morality police for not wearing the hijab, or Islamic head scarf.
The complaints come a week after the Taliban deployed more members of the morality police across Afghanistan’s third-largest city, according to local residents who spoke to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.
Soon after seizing power in 2021, the Taliban ordered all women in public to cover their faces by wearing an all-encompassing burqa or a niqab that is common in the Arab Gulf states.
The militant group said punishments, including arrest or even jail time, could be imposed on violators.
One woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said she was traveling with her father by car when they were stopped by members of the morality police. She said the car was impounded and they were ordered to show up at the Ministry of Public Affairs for questioning after she was accused of not wearing a hijab.
Another woman who spoke on condition of anonymity said members of the morality police forced her out of a taxi, accusing her of improperly wearing the hijab. “The taxis don’t pick up women anymore,” she said.
The morality police are overseen by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and enforce the Taliban’s religious edicts, including its strict dress code and gender segregation in society. During the Taliban’s first stint in power in the 1990s, the force was notorious for publicly beating offenders, including women.
The Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on women’s appearances, freedom of movement, and their right to work and education since it regained power in August 2021.
Rights campaigners have accused the hard-line Islamist group of trying to erase women from public life and imprison them in their homes.
In a new report issued on July 17, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the Taliban had further increased restrictions on women and girls in recent months.
UNAMA said it had “recorded instances where the de facto authorities took steps to enforce previously announced limitations on women’s freedom of movement and participation in employment.”
The agency said it also “recorded instances when the [Taliban] interfered in NGOs led by women, or employing them.”