Women Arrested in West Kabul for Not Having a “Male Guardian”

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Local sources in western Kabul report that Taliban forces, on Wednesday morning, July 30, arrested a number of women and girls in the Qala-e Naw and 20-meter Road areas of Dasht-e Barchi for not being accompanied by a male guardian (mahram).

According to the sources, the arrests began around 6 a.m. and are still ongoing.

The prohibition on women’s movement without a male guardian is one of the restrictions the Taliban imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan after returning to power in 2021. The group has repeatedly arrested women for being in public places without a male companion.

Previously, the Taliban had also arrested several young girls in the Shahr-e Naw area of Kabul on charges of “improper hijab”; an act that sparked widespread outrage.