The Taliban have brought in the new year by stepping up their campaign against women and girls in Afghanistan.
Having already banned women from education and employment, the regime is now targeting women on the streets for their appearance. This is a dangerous new phase in the Taliban’s attempts to dominate women and girls and erase them from public life.
The Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has reportedly detained and imprisoned dozens of women and girls in Kabul for “non-compliance” with Taliban edicts on observing hijab.
This includes several instances of Taliban officials intercepting women and girls on the street in the Taimani and Dasht-e-Barchi areas of the city before detaining them. The Taliban claim these women were “spreading and encouraging others to wear a bad hijab” and wearing makeup.
Last year, the movement ordered all women to cover their faces in public and decreed that male family members were responsible for enforcing these strict rules. At the time, the Taliban told women the best option was to “not leave their homes at all if possible” because it was “the best option to observe sharia hijab.”
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the arrests on January 8, stating that “a number of women were transferred to relevant areas for modeling,” and claimed they were released after two hours.
But this is contrary to reports that many women are still detained and that some were beaten by the Taliban or stripped naked and sexually abused.
Heather Barr, associate human-rights director at Human Rights Watch, has claimed that these women faced “torture and are being subjected to horrible preconditions before being released.” Barr also claimed the Taliban were threatening to confiscate the property of the families of detained women if they breach the dress code again.
The United Nations has stated it is “deeply concerned” about the Taliban detaining women. The UN’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, stated this month that “enforcement measures involving physical violence are especially demeaning and dangerous for Afghan women and girls” and that “detentions carry an enormous stigma that puts Afghan women at even greater risk.”
This is the latest in a number of repressive edicts by the Taliban against women. Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have banned women and most girls from school and university and in employment, where women are forbidden from most professions.
Women’s freedom of assembly and movement is also restricted, with most not allowed to leave the home without a male family member.
Restrictions have gotten more targeted and punitive over time. Last year the Taliban banned women from working for the UN and international aid organizations, which prevented many women from accessing aid and left others jobless. More recently, the Taliban closed all beauty salons – one of the last refuges for Afghan women – and banned women from visiting the Band-e-Amir national park.
Risks to the regime
Detaining women for dress-code violations represents a dangerous new phase in the Taliban’s plan to remove women from public life. Instead of relying on male relatives to enforce its laws at home, the Taliban is now targeting women on the streets.
But this isn’t without danger for the Taliban. The regime’s latest attempts at oppressing women may go too far for Afghans.
Their latest actions are similar to those of Afghanistan’s neighbor Iran, where the government’s infamous morality police target and detain women for not adhering to the country’s strict laws on female dress.
Like under the Taliban, Iranian law is based on a strict interpretation of sharia, with women obliged to observe hijab and wear loose-fitting clothing. The situation in Afghanistan has gotten so bad for women the UN has labeled the Taliban’s actions “gender apartheid.”
In 2022, Iran’s morality police arrested 22-year-old Jine Mahsa Amini in Tehran for allegedly wearing inappropriate clothing. In murky circumstances, Amini fell into a coma in prison and died in hospital three days later.
Amini’s death led to a wave of protests across Iran, with some labeling it the first female-led counter-revolution. Women and girls were filmed burning their headscarves in anti-government demonstrations, and thousands of women refused to adhere to the country’s dress code. The government eventually paused morality-police patrols in response to the unrest.
The Iranian government eventually cracked down on the unrest – killing more than 500 people and arresting thousands more – but this led to more international sympathy and sanctions again the regime. Iran ended up isolated and to this day has less control over women than it had previously.
By publicly targeting women, the Taliban risk the same outcome.
Afghan women did hit the streets of Kabul on Saturday to protest the arrests, describing the Taliban’s actions as “against human rights” and “oppression.” But whether this translates into a widespread protest movement remains to be seen.
The larger threat is Taliban alienating the families of the women they detain, particularly if these women are subjected to violence or sexual assault. Afghanistan is male-dominated and conservative, and violence against daughters, mothers and sisters could spur Afghans to resist and protest against the regime.
In taking its oppression of women too far, the Taliban risk unrest at home and international isolation abroad, just when the world is taking steps to engage with the regime. This would be counterproductive for the Taliban, who require outside help to give them legitimacy and to solve the problems Afghanistan faces.
The solution is sees clear. The Taliban should stop their attempts to police women’s dress in public and immediately cease any arbitrary arrests, violence and torture, which are serious breaches of their human rights. This would not only give Afghan women a rare respite, but would prevent unrest that could threaten the regime.
The Taliban need to focus on the legitimate problems Afghanistan faces. This includes the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has left millions requiring humanitarian assistance and others facing starvation.
A genuine interest in rebuilding the country would be far better received by Afghans and the international community than vindictive measures against women and girls.
The Taliban need to decide what their priorities are, punishing women or rebuilding Afghanistan. If the regime continues to focus on the former, then it may find its power ebbing away both at home and abroad.