RASC News Agency: Local sources in Herat province have confirmed that the Taliban’s Department for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has forcibly closed all women-only cafes in the region. At least three independent sources have verified that these closures were executed under direct orders from the Taliban’s local authorities.
Following the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education, several women in Herat had established women-only cafes as a means of earning a lawful livelihood. According to available reports, at least five such establishments were operational until recently. However, Taliban officials shut them down, citing accusations of playing music and hosting gatherings of women as justification for their actions.
Despite widespread public concern, Taliban officials in Herat have yet to issue any formal statement on the closures. This latest development is part of a broader campaign of systematic oppression that Afghanistani women and girls have endured under more than three years of Taliban rule. These repressive policies have left millions of girls without access to education. Additionally, women have been prohibited from entering gyms, restaurants, public baths, and clinics with male doctors. They are also barred from traveling without a male guardian or working in governmental, non-governmental, domestic, and international organizations.
Over the past three years, the Taliban has issued numerous decrees targeting women, all under the pretext of enforcing “Islam and Sharia.” However, religious scholars and experts contend that these restrictions and animosity toward women are deeply rooted in ethnic and tribal ideologies, specifically Pashtunwali culture, rather than being representative of Islamic teachings.
