The Taliban’s restrictions on women are growing stricter by the day. In a recent move in Herat, they have barred women from visiting public and natural recreational sites with their families. Women in Herat report spending the entire week confined to their homes, with Fridays previously being their only chance to go outdoors with family, a privilege now revoked by the Taliban.
Some women and family members in Herat say that after women were banned from recreational parks, they would still visit nearby areas on Fridays, such as “Pul-e Pashtun” and “Pul-e Malan.” However, the Taliban have now imposed new restrictions that prevent women from going there, even with family.
Last Friday, families were turned back at Taliban checkpoints, with fighters stopping vehicles carrying women and ordering them to return home. Afsana, one of the women denied access, shared that she and her family were heading to the “Pul-e Pashtun” area when the Taliban spotted women in their vehicle and stopped them. According to Afsana, a Taliban fighter informed her husband that women were not permitted in the area. Speaking to the Hasht-e Subh Daily, Afsana said, “The Taliban have taken everything from us. Friday was the only day we could go out with our families, but they have taken that from us too. I don’t understand their hostility toward women.” She added, “In the afternoon, we packed tea and some snacks to sit in the fields near Pul-e Pashtun, to pray and enjoy a brief break, but as soon as we approached the fields, the Taliban arrived and, upon seeing us, said women weren’t allowed. We had no choice but to return home.”
Faiz Ahmad, a resident of Herat, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that the Taliban have also denied women the right to recreation, barring them from going out even with family. “A few days ago, my mother and wife said they were mentally distressed and wanted to go to Pul-e Pashtun or Pul-e Malan for a couple of hours to clear their minds, but the Taliban stopped us,” he recounted. “Only my mother and wife were with me. When I tried to enter the fields near Pul-e Pashtun, they told me to drop the women off and go alone, as women weren’t allowed. We then went to Pul-e Malan but faced the same restrictions, so we returned home.”
Women are being denied recreational access with their families as the Taliban’s Herat Director for the Directorate for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice recently directed owners of halls, hotels, restaurants, and juice shops to deny entry to women who do not comply with the group’s specified hijab requirements.
Aziz al-Rahman al-Muhajir, the Taliban’s Director for the Directorate for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat, also instructed business owners to prevent the mixing of men and women and enforce “the law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” as a religious obligation.
This crackdown comes soon after three United Nations reports, including one from UNAMA, Richard Bennett, and a joint report by UNAMA, IOM, and UN Women, expressed serious concerns about Afghanistan’s deteriorating human rights situation, particularly the widespread violations of women’s rights and their complete exclusion from public life.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, addressed the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, highlighting the Taliban’s extensive violations of women’s rights. He noted that the lack of a unified and strong response from the international community has emboldened the group. Bennett urged the global community to create a comprehensive action plan focused on human rights and gender equality in Afghanistan, emphasizing that all international mechanisms, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, should be used to hold the Taliban accountable.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
تشدید محدودیتهای طالبان؛ زنان در هرات نمیتوانند با خانوادههای خود تفریح بروند | روزنامه ۸صبح
