The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) voiced its apprehension on Thursday about the Taliban’s recent spike in the arbitrary arrest and detention of women and girls based on non-compliance with the Islamic dress code. Last week the Taliban arrested the first women in Afghanistan for “bad hijab” since they took power in August 2021.
UNAMA has recorded “a series of hijab decree enforcement campaigns by the de facto Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and the de facto police in Kabul and Daykundi provinces.” The mission also alleged that women and girls have been detained in events of non-compliance. For their release from detention, UNAMA reported that male guardians have been required to sign a letter guaranteeing her future compliance or else face punishment.
Special Representative of the Secretary General and head of UNAMA Roza Otunbayeva reported the involvement of physical violence as enforcement measures on women and girls in the country, which is a sign of dishonor for them. UNAMA engaged in discussions with the de facto Taliban authorities and called for “immediate release” of the detained.
In response to it, the spokesman of the de facto Taliban government Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed UNAMA’s concern and said that their concern “is incorrect.” He added that Afghan women wear hijabs on their own accord and have not been forced nor mistreated. He termed UNAMA’s concerns as ” propaganda,” which is “far from reality.”
The Taliban came into power in August 2021, and since then it has imposed numerous restrictions on women and girls which has been referred to as “gender apartheid” by the UN. Women and girls have been prohibited from attending secondary schools or working, followed by imposition of a strict dress code. The decree passed by the Taliban in May 2022 required a mandatory observation of dress covering their entire body in accordance with Sharia and Afghan tradition; similar restrictions were imposed under the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001. Additionally, women under the Taliban regime cannot leave their homes without male guardians, which further restricts their freedom of movement.
The UN Security Council adopted resolution 2681 in April 2023, condemning actions taken by the Taliban that restrict women from working and called for the safe participation of women in Afghanistan. Amnesty International and the International Commission for Jurists (ICJ) underscored, in a report issued in May 2023, that the Taliban’s actions against Afghan women’s rights may constitute gender persecution, according to international law. Additionally, Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a report published in September 2023, alleged Taliban authorities of perpetrating gender persecution against women and girls in Afghanistan.
