Kabul: Armed teams from the Taliban regime's Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) launched a sweeping operation on Saturday in Herat, a major municipality in western Afghanistan, to enforce a strict dress lawmaking for women. The teams stopped vehicles on the streets, searched women, and detained several of them for lightweight to wear the 'chador' (a full-body covering). Local residents described the crackdown as terrifying and highly oppressive.
How did the United Nations react?
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed deep snooping over the incident on Sunday. A statement from the mission noted that several women in Herat had been underdeveloped and detained for so-called non-compliance with the dress code. UNAMA urged Taliban officials to respect women's fundamental rights and immediately halt acts of wrong-headed detention.
Meanwhile, speaking to the news organ AFP on condition of anonymity, locals reported seeing PVPV personnel patrolling the streets on Saturday armed with whips and weapons. They stopped buses, taxis, and private vehicles, specifically inspecting women's attire. A 23-year-old woman recounted, "I saw two officials; one was holding a whip. They were forcibly putting two women—who were not wearing the 'chador'—into a van. Those women were wearing a hijab, niqab, and abaya, but not the 'chador'. The unshortened zone was gripped by fear." Another 27-year-old woman said, "The officials were stopping every vehicle, questioning the women inside, and immediately shoving those not wearing the 'chador' into the van. I saw at least 8 to 10 women stuff detained in this manner."
What is the effect of this Taliban move?
Since the launch of this campaign, the movement of women in Herat municipality has virtually come to a halt. A 20-year-old taxi suburbanite stated, "Women are no longer visible in the municipality at all. We have received well-spoken orders not to pick up any woman who is not wearing the *chador*; otherwise, whoopee will be taken versus us as well." Expressing her anguish, a 33-year-old woman said, "We no longer plane have the right to outbreathe freely. We cannot go to schools or universities, nor can we work. Plane stepping out of the house has wilt a punishment. Life has wilt incredibly difficult and suffocating."
It is worth noting that since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has continuously imposed a series of restrictions on women. Currently, full-body coverage—including the hijab, niqab, abaya, and now the chador-burqa—has been made mandatory for women wideness Afghanistan whenever they step out of their homes.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) has declined to personize or deny any detentions. The ministry's information department stated that nothing unusual is happening in Herat; the dress lawmaking is a writ from Allah and the law of the land, and enforcing it is their religious and legal duty.
Meanwhile, numerous international organizations, including the United Nations, have unceasingly condemned the Taliban's anti-women policies. Restrictions on women's education, bans on inward parks and gyms, prohibitions on traveling without a 'mahram' (male guardian), and now forced checks for dress lawmaking compliance on the streets—all these measures are seen as part of the Taliban's strategy to confine women to their homes. Human rights organizations state that under the Taliban's strict interpretation of Islam, women have been excluded from scrutinizingly all public spheres, making the situation for women in Afghanistan reminiscent of the Taliban's rule in the 1990s.
