RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s so-called Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has reportedly detained at least thirty women, including a pregnant woman, in Afghanistan’s western province of Herat on allegations of violating the dress code imposed by the country’s de facto Islamist authorities.
Sources familiar with the arrests told The Independent that the pregnant woman had been transferred to Herat’s provincial prison. However, no further information regarding her condition, legal status, or access to medical care has been made available.
The arrests were also highlighted during a briefing to the United Nations Security Council on Monday, where Georgette Gagnon, head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, reported that approximately thirty women had been taken into custody by Taliban morality police for allegedly failing to comply with prescribed clothing regulations.
In a statement, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expressed alarm over the developments, stating: “UNAMA is concerned by multiple reports of women being detained in Herat for allegedly failing to comply with dress requirements, raising serious human rights concerns.”
The mission further reminded Afghanistan’s de facto authorities that freedom of movement is a fundamental right, emphasizing that “all individuals, women and men alike, are entitled to equal protection under the law.”
Beyond the reported detentions, several Afghanistani women in Herat have allegedly received verbal warnings from local Taliban authorities. According to local accounts, Herat’s provincial administration instructed community representatives to relay the Taliban’s latest directives to women, including orders not to expose any part of the body and to refrain from wearing makeup. Similar messages were reportedly disseminated through mosques across the province during Friday prayers.
The latest measures follow a decree issued last week by Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, formally prohibiting women from appearing in public without what the authorities describe as “appropriate hijab.” Witnesses reported seeing Taliban patrols throughout Herat enforcing the directive, which had been circulated by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
According to the order, women who fail to comply with the prescribed dress code, do not cover their faces, or are found wearing makeup could face unspecified “disciplinary measures.”
Local residents described scenes resembling coordinated raids across parts of Herat, alleging that Taliban personnel carrying batons pursued women accused of violating the hijab decree. Witnesses said that some women screamed and resisted as both male and female Taliban officers attempted to detain and search them.
Footage shared widely on social media appeared to show fully covered women being arrested in a crowded marketplace and forcibly placed into vehicles while dozens of male bystanders watched.
A shopkeeper in the area told an Afghanistani news outlet: “At the moment, there are hardly any women visible on this road. The Taliban detained some women, while others fled the area in fear and panic.” He added that many of those arrested had, in fact, been wearing the clothing mandated by the authorities at the time of their detention.
Despite repeated assurances by Taliban officials following their return to power that they would govern in a more moderate manner than during their first period of rule, the authorities have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls throughout Afghanistan. These measures have affected access to education, employment, recreation, and participation in public life, drawing sustained criticism from governments, human rights organizations, and United Nations bodies.
During the same Security Council session, Gagnon stated that 3.8 million Afghanistani girls between the ages of seven and eighteen are currently out of school, including 2.6 million adolescent girls. She warned that an additional 250,000 girls are excluded from secondary education each year, describing the trend as the emergence of a “lost generation” with potentially devastating consequences for Afghanistan’s long-term social and economic development.
Human rights advocates argue that the cumulative effect of these restrictions extends far beyond individual freedoms. They warn that the systematic exclusion of women and girls from education, employment, and civic participation risks deepening Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, weakening its institutions, and undermining prospects for future stability and recovery.
As international concern continues to mount, the situation in Herat has become the latest illustration of the widening gap between the Taliban’s diplomatic assurances abroad and the realities reported by women living under their rule. For many Afghanistani women, the expansion of morality policing represents not only a tightening of social controls but also a growing climate of fear, uncertainty, and exclusion from public life.
