Taliban Morality Police Escalate Harassment and Threats Against Women in Kabul

A number of women and girls in Kabul have reported ongoing repression and harassment by the Taliban morality police. On Wednesday, January 13, these women said that the Taliban’s Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice officers have been following and threatening them in the streets. Two girls confirmed that despite fully adhering to the Taliban’s dress code, they still received warnings from the morality police. One girl said, “I was walking in the street fully veiled, but they still followed me and said, ‘Why are you wearing tight clothes?’ I was very scared.” According to the women, the Taliban consider a woman’s voice to be ‘awrah’ (an intimate part that should be covered), yet the officers use the guise of enforcing dress codes to harass girls in the streets. Under Article 24 of the Taliban’s Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice law, the morality police have the authority to discipline, imprison, and refer individuals to the group’s courts. Earlier reports also revealed complaints about conspiracies and abuse within the Taliban’s morality departments, stating that these offices have essentially become ‘marriage bureaus’ for Taliban members.