The UN reaction after the arrest of “numerous women and girls” accused of violating the dress code
Women in Afghanistan Photo: Sanaullah Seiam / AFP / Profimedia
The United Nations (UN) has expressed its “concern” on the arrest of Afghan women in the capital of Kabul, accused of violating the strict dress code of the Taliban government. Afghan officials deny that such arrests would have taken place, according to AFP.
After returning to power in 2021, the Taliban authorities imposed a severe interpretation of the Islamic Law, so that all women are forced to be covered from head to toe when they are in the public space.
The UN assistance mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it is “worried about numerous women and girls in Kabul between July 16 and 19, due to the alleged non-compliance with the” Hijab instructions “of the authorities.”
“These incidents contribute to the additional isolation of women and girls, contribute to a climate of fear and erode public confidence,” the agency wrote on the X platform, mentioning that he has contacted the authorities in this regard.
A witness told AFP last week that, while driving through the center of Kabul, he saw employees of the Ministry to promote virtue and vice prevention (PVPV) when “they told two women to go with them in the car.”
The women were dressed in wide abaya dresses and were makeup. They refused to enter the vehicle, but were forced by an armed employee of the PVPV, the witness said, under the condition of anonymity.
The Taliban authorities denied the arrests and claim that they had “simply Hijab campaign”.
“But there is nothing like arresting someone or taking someone to prison,” said PVPV spokesman, Islam Kyber Saul for AFP.
In the last four years, the Taliban authorities have progressively isolated women, banning their access to universities, public parks, sports halls and beauty salons, in what the UN has denounced as “gender apart”.
The Taliban government claims that its way of interpreting the Islamic law “guarantees” the rights of all and that the accusations of discrimination are “unfounded”.
On Monday, UNAMA asked the Taliban authorities to “cancel the policies and practices that restrict human rights and the fundamental freedoms of women and girls.”
