The Taliban government in Afghanistan is enforcing stricter religious laws through its “morality police,” as revealed in a UN report published Tuesday. The report highlights a “climate of fear” since the Taliban regained power in August 2021 and established the “Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.”
According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), the Taliban Morality Police actively curtail human rights and freedoms, especially targeting women. Since taking power, the Taliban have barred girls and young women from receiving an education and excluded women from public jobs.
This ministry actively enforces a strict interpretation of Islamic law, restricting personal freedoms for women and girls and eliminating a free press and civil society. Morality police squads actively scold, arrest, and punish citizens for “un-Islamic” activities, including wearing “Western” hairstyles and listening to banned music.
Rejecting the UN report, the Taliban claim their decrees aim to “reform society” and assert they should be enforced. The report mentions a “climate of fear and intimidation” due to the ministry’s invasion of private lives and harsh punishments.
The Taliban have banned women from traveling without male escorts, enforced conservative dress codes, barred women from public parks, and shut down women-run businesses. They defend these actions as measures to “safeguard women’s honor and chastity” and consider Islamic dress “a divine obligation.”
The Taliban Morality Police also actively work to reduce interactions between men and women. They instruct barbers to refuse “Western-style” haircuts for men and arrest people for playing music. The vice ministry denied banning women from public places, stating it only intervenes in mixed-gender environments.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid accused the UNAMA report of judging Afghanistan from a Western perspective. He claimed all rights under Islamic law are guaranteed to citizens and insisted men and women are treated according to Sharia law, denying any oppression.
