UN protests women's arrests in Afghanistan for alleged clothing violations

The United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan has expressed concern over what it says are arrests and detentions of women in western Afghanistan for allegedly not adhering to regulations governing how they should dress.

The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said on X late Sunday that the arrests and detentions in the city of Herat raise "serious human rights concerns.”

It did not provide details. Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice dismissed the reports of arrests as “rumors.”

“We remind the de facto authorities that all people have the right to freedom of movement and that all persons, both women and men, are entitled to equality before the law,” the U.N. mission said on X. It had expressed concern over similar arrests in the Afghan capital, Kabul, last year.

A human rights monitor, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details to the media, said Monday that monitors had verified at least 16 arrests and detentions, including of a pregnant woman, in Herat since Friday over alleged non-compliance with dress requirements.

On Friday, imams in mosques in Herat issued announcements during prayers on behalf of the vice and virtue ministry that women were not allowed to leave their homes without wearing the hijab. The human rights monitor said the arrests and detentions began shortly after that.

“The issues being spread about women being arrested in Herat are all rumors,” the vice and virtue ministry’s information office said in a statement. It added that “hijab is a divine command, a law that we are obliged to implement.” The headscarf and loose clothing cover the entire body.

Afghan authorities have imposed draconian restrictions on women and girls since the Taliban seized power in the country in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led forces. They have included bans on education beyond primary school and on working in all but very few professions, as well as strict regulations on what women are allowed to wear in public.

Government regulations stipulate that women can only go out in public when wearing full hijab as well as a face covering that leaves only the eyes visible. Many women in Afghanistan use face masks like those worn during the COVID pandemic to comply with regulations.