The Taliban have detained several women in Kabul, the Afghan capital, for wearing the hijab “wrongly,” as reported this Thursday by a spokesman for the country’s Ministry of Vices and Virtues, Abdul Ghafar Farooq. The arrests reportedly occurred three days ago, but it was not specified how many women have been detained or what constitutes a bad hijab.
The return to power of the Taliban in 2021 meant major restrictions on the freedom of Afghan women and girls, such as various prohibitions on education, employment and access to public spaces. The restrictions extended to the dress code, reminiscent of neighboring Iran where the hijab has been mandatory for decades.
In May 2022, the Taliban issued a decree asking women to only show their eyes and recommending they wear the burqa from head to toe. Similar restrictions had already been imposed during the previous Taliban government, between 1996 and 2001.
In voice notes sent to the AP agency, Farooq, spokesperson for the Ministry of Vices and Virtues, said that the arrests come after recurring complaints to the ministry about the lack of a correct hijab by women in the capital and in the provinces. Ministry officials advised women who violated the rule to follow the dress code and police officers were sent to arrest the women when they did not follow the advice, the Afghan Minister of Vices and Virtues explained.
“These are the few women who spread the bad hijab in Islamic society,” said Abdul Ghafar Farooq, arguing that women who wore the hijab incorrectly would have violated “Islamic values.” “In all provinces, those who go without a hijab will be arrested,” he added.
These arrests come less than a week after the UN Security Council asked for a special envoy to dialogue with the Taliban, especially on gender and human rights issues. However, the Taliban criticized the idea, stating that special envoys have “further complicated situations by imposing external solutions.”
On Wednesday, the United States expressed support for the initiative of a United Nations special envoy for Afghanistan. U.S. State Department Matthew Miller, who said the United States remained concerned about the Taliban’s repression of women and girls, which he said “further distances the Taliban from normalizing its relations with the international community.”
