Arrested for Dress Code; Women’s Lives in Herat Marked by Fear and Restrictions
- Ariahn Raya
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Taliban restrictions on women’s dress in Herat province have turned the area into a space filled with fear, control and humiliation for thousands of women and girls.
Taliban checkpoints at intersections and main roads have not only restricted women’s movement, but have also severely disrupted their psychological well being.
Women say that before leaving home, they look in the mirror repeatedly, not out of care for appearance, but out of fear that the colour of their clothes, the length of their coat or the type of their dress may be used as a pretext for arrest, humiliation or contact with their families.
Atifa, a 19 year old girl, says fear leaves the house before she does each day. She works in a tailoring workshop and told Zan News, “I swear every morning when I open the door, my knees shake. I feel that every Taliban member standing on the street is looking for an excuse to arrest us. I only think, if they take me, if I am detained like other girls, what will happen to my dignity and my family’s honour? This fear is worse than prison.”
She says the Taliban show no leniency even towards women who work to on the streets provide food for their families, “We are forced to work, forced! But the Taliban stop vehicles, search taxis and stare at women’s clothes. If it is a coat, it is as if we have committed a serious crime. No one asks how we are supposed to survive.”
This fear is not limited to young girls.
Safura, a widow and mother of three, says that every time she leaves home for labour work, she says goodbye to herself, a farewell filled with anxiety and despair.
She says, “Now going outside is torment for me. One day I worry that my clothes might be too short, another day I think the colour may not be acceptable to the Taliban. I cannot sleep at night. I work for months and earn two thousand Afghanis, but I have to spend that money on my children. Where should I find the money for clothes that the Taliban will approve of? I do not know whether to feed my children or save myself from Taliban detention.”
Karima, a nurse at a clinic in Herat, also says that fear of the Taliban has affected the healthcare environment.
She says, “Every day I leave home with fear. When I reach the street, I just pray that the Taliban do not stop our vehicle. The Taliban have detained many girls just for wearing a coat. They contacted their fathers and humiliated them.”
She adds, “My cousin went alone to the hospital one day. At the intersection, the Taliban forced her out of the vehicle and held her for hours until her father arrived. When she was released, she was no longer the same girl. Since that day, she does not even have the courage to go outside.”
Women’s rights activists say that what is happening in Herat is not merely “dress control”, but a form of systematic violence and the creation of collective fear against women. This situation is gradually excluding them from work, society and normal life.
While the Taliban describe these policies as “implementation of Sharia”, women say these restrictions have led to chronic anxiety, psychological breakdown and a constant sense of insecurity.
They believe that women’s bodies and dress have become tools for the Taliban to display power.
