Women’s freedom continues to be restricted in Afghanistan. A Taliban official said that women and girls were arrested recently in Kabul for not having covered themselves with a veil, according to a video published on Wednesday. Numerous messages on social networks have reported in recent days the arrest of women in the Afghan capital because of their clothing.
If they leave their homes, Afghan women must only reveal their eyes and hands. Many Kaboulies, however, go out without covering their mouths. Ehsanullah Saqib, a security official, told clerics in the Dasht-e Barchi neighborhood on Tuesday that last week “a number of women and girls were arrested who were not wearing the hijab, with the help of the women’s police”, a body made up entirely of women.
A “gender apartheid”
Since their return to power in August 2021, the Taliban have returned to the austere interpretation of Islam, which marked their first stint at the head of government (1996-2001). They have increased repressive measures against women, a policy described as “gender apartheid” by the United Nations.
They have been excluded from secondary schools and universities, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where girls’ education is prohibited beyond primary school. Ehsanullah explained, according to this video published on X by Amu TV, that these women had been arrested because they were “not wearing the hijab”, but pants or leggings under a dress. “They were arrested to inform their family that their sister, daughter or wife is walking around without a hijab and that this must be prevented,” said the Taliban official.
“Instill fear in women”
Abdul Ghafar Sabawoon, spokesperson for the Ministry of Prevention of Vice and Promotion of Virtue, told AFP that “no woman had been the victim of disrespect or humiliated or imprisoned.” Previously, the ministry had denied that images circulating on social networks had been taken during the arrests of women. “These were images of beggars being pushed off the streets,” he said.
A human rights activist who requested anonymity told AFP on Wednesday that these arrests were intended “to put pressure on families to force women to wear the hijab, and to instill fear in young people.” girls and women.” “This is the first time that the Taliban have arrested women for this reason in public space,” she added. UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett condemned these arrests on Friday on X which “unfortunately mean even more restrictions on women’s freedom of expression”.