This week, the Taliban government in Afghanistan officially codified a new set of strict morality laws, mandating that women must fully cover their faces and bodies and that men must grow beards. The new laws, aligned with the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic sharia law, also ban playing music in cars and prohibit drivers from transporting women without a male guardian. The rules were ratified by the Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader in 2022 and are now officially published as law, according to a spokesperson for the Justice Ministry.
The Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue, commonly referred to as the morality ministry, has been enforcing similar rules since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. The ministry has reportedly detained thousands of people for alleged violations of these moral codes. The publication of these laws marks a formalization of these measures and could lead to stricter enforcement, although it remains unclear how much this will change the current enforcement landscape.
Since retaking control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban’s stringent rules regarding women’s rights and freedom of expression have faced widespread condemnation from international human rights organizations and foreign governments. Many Western nations, led by the United States, have made it clear that official recognition of the Taliban government is contingent on reversing these restrictions, particularly the ban on girls attending high school.
The Taliban have defended their policies, asserting that they respect women’s rights within the framework of their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan traditions. They argue that such matters are internal and should be managed locally.
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The newly codified morality law consists of 35 articles, which include requirements for women to wear clothing that completely covers their bodies and faces, prohibitions on men shaving their beards, and mandates that everyone must observe religious practices such as prayer and fasting. Penalties for non-compliance range from warnings and verbal threats to confiscation of property and detention in public jails for up to three days. In cases where these measures do not result in compliance, offenders will be referred to court for further action.
Heather Barr, Associate Director of Human Rights Watch’s Women’s Rights Division, noted that while many of these rules were already informally enforced, their formal codification suggests an intensification of the Taliban’s control over public behavior. “This formalization represents a steady and gradual escalation of the crackdown we’ve been observing over the past three years,” she said.
In addition to the rules on personal appearance and conduct, the laws also impose restrictions on media, demanding adherence to sharia law and banning the publication of images containing living beings. The Taliban’s morality ministry has actively monitored compliance across Afghanistan, reporting over 13,000 detentions in the past year alone, though details regarding the specific nature of these offenses or the gender breakdown of those detained were not provided.
These new morality laws represent the seventh set of codified laws enacted by the Taliban since their return to power, with others covering areas such as property, financial services, and the prevention of begging. Following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021 and the subsequent withdrawal of foreign forces, they suspended Afghanistan’s previous constitution and declared their intention to govern according to their interpretation of sharia law.