Women detained in Herat as Taliban morality police enforce dress rules

KABUL: Women in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat were detained by Taliban morality police in a clothing enforcement drive, according to residents cited by AFP, as the United Nations voiced concern over the arrests.

The UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, said on Sunday it was concerned about multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat for alleged failure to comply with dress requirements. The development comes as Taliban authorities have continued to tighten restrictions on women since returning to power in August 2021.

Under the rules in force across the country, women are required to be fully covered when leaving home. Many wear a loose abaya along with a headscarf and face covering. In Herat, however, residents said women were being detained on Saturday for not wearing the body-covering chador or burqa.

Residents who spoke to AFP did so on condition of anonymity because of security concerns. A 23-year-old woman said she saw two officials from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice detaining women.

“I saw two employees of the ministry, one of whom was carrying a whip, putting two women who were not wearing chadors into a vehicle,”

She said the women who were taken away were otherwise fully covered and were wearing Muslim headscarves.

“Everyone is frightened,”

Another resident, a 27-year-old woman, said she saw officials from the same ministry stopping vehicles, checking what female passengers were wearing and taking away several women in vans.

“The majority of those arrested were women who were not wearing chadors,”

The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice did not comment on the reported detentions when contacted by AFP. Its information department said there was nothing out of the ordinary in Herat and defended the dress code as a matter of law and religion.

“There is nothing unusual in Herat,”

“is a divine command and an enforced law, and we are obligated to implement it”

Since the operation began, an AFP journalist and several Herat residents said the number of women visible in public had fallen sharply. A 20-year-old taxi driver said drivers had been instructed not to carry women who were not wearing a chador.

“they’re not seen in the city at all”

“We’ve been told not to transport women without a chador,”

One 33-year-old woman described the situation as unbearable and said daily life had become increasingly difficult.

“I am genuinely saddened that we don’t even have the right to breathe freely,”

“Life has become very difficult for us.”

Taliban authorities have steadily imposed stricter rules on women since their return to power nearly four years ago, and the latest enforcement action in Herat has drawn criticism from the United Nations.