UNAMA: Taliban Intensify Enforcement of Mandatory Hijab and Restrictions on Women’s Movement
- Zan News
- Aug 10
- 2 min read
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said today, Sunday (August 10), in a new human rights report that the Taliban have increased enforcement of the mandatory hijab directive and imposed further restrictions on women’s movement.
The report, prepared by UNAMA’s Human Rights Service and covering the period from April to June this year, says that in May, Taliban officers from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat city forced women to wear the burqa and barred dozens of them from entering markets and using public transportation for not wearing it.
UNAMA added that some of these women were detained and held until their families brought them burqas, after which they were released. In June, in Tarinkot city of Uruzgan province, women who wore arabic hijabs instead of burqas were also arrested.
According to the report, the Taliban have also enforced the mandatory “mahram” rule in a way that is not even specified in the group’s own Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice law. In some provinces, health clinics, markets, government offices, and taxi drivers have been instructed not to provide services to women without a mahram.
According to UNAMA, women are banned from going to parks, gardens, stadiums, and recreational places. On May 23, Taliban forces in Lal wa Sarjangal district of Ghor province expelled several families from a recreational site and warned them not to return without observing the restrictions.
Similarly, on May 16 in Injil district of Herat province, the Taliban denied entry to recreational sites to families accompanied by women and girls, allowing only all-male groups to enter.
The Taliban have not yet responded to this UNAMA report.
This comes as about two weeks ago, the Taliban launched a wave of arrests of women and girls in Kabul for not wearing the attire they require.
Over the past four years, the Taliban have imposed extensive restrictions on the lives of women and girls, from banning the education of girls above sixth grade to prohibiting their work in government offices, media, and international organizations, and even preventing their free presence in society.
Despite repeated calls from the international community to restore women’s rights, the Taliban continue to claim that these rights are respected in accordance with Islamic Sharia, but the existing reality shows a completely different picture.
