Behind Taliban Gown Code Arrests, Afghan Activists See a Marketing campaign to Silence Critics — World Points
KABUL, November 6 (IPS) – In Afghanistan, the Taliban are detaining ladies, even when they’re carrying a hijab. Activists suspect that the problem of apparel is merely a pretext utilized by the Taliban to seek out critics of the regime.
For girls, Kabul is a metropolis of concern. Whether or not they’re heading to the physician, the outlets, or to go to family members, reaching their vacation spot is rarely sure.
They concern checkpoints, the Taliban’s “morality police,” and the danger of being detained for carrying the “improper” clothes or for missing a male escort.
For a lot of ladies, leaving the home is a troublesome choice. They’re compelled to think about what would possibly occur if they’re detained: Will I have the ability to return residence? And if I do, will I nonetheless maintain the identical place inside my household or group?
In keeping with Amu TV—an Afghan media outlet primarily based in the USA—the Taliban’s morality police detained no less than twenty ladies and ladies within the Taimani neighborhood of Kabul in September.
A few of these detained reported that they have been taken into custody regardless of carrying a hijab in compliance with the foundations; additionally they described how the police tore at their clothes in the course of the altercation. Following an in a single day detention, they have been launched solely after their households and native communities paid bail.
Ahmad (title modified) is a road vendor in Taimani. She describes the arrest:
“I actually don’t perceive what they have been after. All the ladies have been carrying hijabs, but they forcefully grabbed individuals indiscriminately —together with a pregnant girl. Regardless of pleas, she was compelled right into a police automobile.”
“There have been many different ladies current who have been dressed precisely the identical approach as those that have been taken, and it was unclear why some have been seized whereas others have been left behind. Individuals have been too afraid to ask. The Taliban beat the ladies earlier than taking them away. Who is aware of what they could do to males?”
Even carrying a hijab could not forestall arrest
Marzia (title modified) was detained on June 9 whereas on her technique to a store within the Pul-e-Surkh space. She was accused of being out illegally with out a hijab.
“After they ordered me to get into their automobile, I refused. They used derogatory language and threatened to pressure me inside if I didn’t comply with go voluntarily. One other girl was additionally compelled into the automobile, and we have been taken to a police station.”
“They spoke to us abusively and mentioned horrible issues. Then, they informed us to summon our male guardians. My father arrived, however nobody listened to him. He introduced different older males from our neighborhood to the scene. They promised to ensure that I’d not exit once more with out a hijab,” she recounts.
Marzia’s father needed to pay a superb of 15,000 afghanis (roughly 200 euros) as a result of she was not carrying a hijab. Solely then was she allowed to return residence.
Marzia said that she was held for about six hours. The Taliban handled her as if she had dedicated a severe crime. “They handled me actually badly. One among them mentioned that it could be proper to kill ladies like me as a result of now we have turned in opposition to Islam. After they demanded my telephone, I informed them it contained private images. One among them replied: ‘You seem in public trying like that—why are you apprehensive concerning the images?’”
In Marzia’s view, there’s nothing improper along with her apparel. She was carrying a protracted, loose-fitting coat, a scarf masking her hair, and a face masks. This was not sufficient for the Taliban. They claimed her hijab didn’t present enough protection and that she needs to be carrying a burqa.
Some ladies’s rights activists interpret the Taliban’s use of arrests not merely as a deterrent for individuals who defy gown codes, but in addition as a method to establish ladies who’ve criticized them.
Maryam, a feminine activist from Kabul, says that the Taliban are doing all the pieces of their energy to trace down ladies who have been activists underneath the earlier authorities—or who stay so as we speak.
“These arrests are only a pretext. The Taliban are rooting out ladies who communicate out in opposition to them. After they arrest ladies, they search their telephones. In the event that they discover even the slightest trace of one thing suspicious, solely God is aware of when that girl shall be launched.”
Activists additionally observe that fines are getting used as a device to curtail ladies’s freedom and confine them to their properties. At a time when many households battle to safe even one nutritious meal a day, a sum of 15,000 afghanis to safe the discharge of a woman or girl is a gigantic quantity.
In keeping with activists, the concern of arrest and the specter of monetary penalties have led to stricter controls inside households. Some households not permit ladies to depart their properties in any respect, whereas others examine the ladies’s apparel earlier than letting them exit.
Ladies in Kabul reside in concern that their apparel might not be sufficiently modest by the Taliban’s requirements
The Taliban have defended the arrests of ladies over their clothes. Saifuddin Khyber, a consultant for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Advantage and the Prevention of Vice, confirmed to Amu TV that girls have been detained in Kabul and Herat. He considers the refusal to put on a hijab a severe offense.
In keeping with Khyber, the Taliban view the carrying of a hijab by ladies as each a non secular and a authorized obligation. Muslim ladies are required to cowl themselves utterly, from their hair right down to their toenails.
Article 13 of a Taliban regulation revealed in 2024 mandates that girls should totally cowl their faces and our bodies. The identical article prohibits the carrying of clothes that’s skinny, brief, or tight-fitting.
Article 24 of the regulation grants the Taliban’s morality police the authority to punish those that violate the regulation. Penalties could embody formal steerage, stern reprimands, fines, detention for just a few days, or different sanctions—all of which will be imposed with out a courtroom listening to.
The Taliban are actively in search of out ladies who communicate out in opposition to them
In June, ladies have been detained in a number of provinces, together with Balkh, Herat, and Takhar. In October 2026, the UN mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, reported that it had acquired data relating to the punishment of no less than 52 ladies in Kabul and Herat between July and September.
In keeping with the UN, the arrests have been prompted by the carrying of colourful headscarves or make-up, showing in public with hair uncovered or with out a concealing chador, or the absence of a male escort.
The Taliban prohibit entry to statistical knowledge, making it troublesome to acquire exact figures on the variety of ladies who’ve been detained.
Concern amongst ladies in Kabul persists, at the same time as a few of those that have been detained are launched. Each time a lady steps exterior, she have to be ready for the likelihood that something may occur.
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