{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreicpm67mb7s6cxihzikqza2bkydkofb3vwtunpvdkskaj4i7cn2yfm",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:qdzcgmgri7npfs46puqpnnjo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnrzhrpedus2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreihandjbkhx3xzgdu4glxbozalv2ugsarziiv2rsatoc7zcowgiqe4"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/webp",
    "size": 155550
  },
  "path": "/news/2006152/women-detained-in-afghanistans-herat-in-clothing-crackdown",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-08T14:55:02.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.dawn.com",
  "tags": [
    "World",
    "tightened restrictions"
  ],
  "textContent": "Afghan residents in the western city of Herat have told _AFP_ of witnessing multiple women detained by the Taliban government’s morality police, in a crackdown over clothing which has drawn criticism from the United Nations.\n\nThe UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said on Sunday it was “concerned over multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat Afghanistan for alleged non-compliance with dress requirements”.\n\n> Taliban authorities have gradually tightened restrictions on women since returning to power in August 2021.\n\nWomen nationwide must be completely covered when they leave home, with many wearing a flowing abaya robe along with a headscarf and a face covering.\n\nIn Herat, residents witnessed women being detained on Saturday for not wearing the body-cloaking chador or burqa. They spoke to _AFP_ on condition of anonymity for security reasons.\n\n“I saw two employees of the ministry, one of whom was carrying a whip, putting two women who were not wearing chadors into a vehicle,” said a 23-year-old woman, referring to officials from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV).\n\nShe said those detained were fully covered, including wearing Muslim headscarves.\n\n“Everyone is frightened,” she told _AFP_.\n\nAnother woman said she saw PVPV officials stopping vehicles and checking passengers’ clothing, and saw multiple women being detained and put into vans.\n\n“The majority of those arrested were women who were not wearing chadors,” the 27-year-old said.\n\nThe PVPV ministry did not comment on women being detained when contacted by _AFP_.\n\n“There is nothing unusual in Herat,” the ministry’s information department said.\n\nThe dress code “is a divine command and an enforced law, and we are obligated to implement it”, the ministry asserted.\n\nSince the crackdown was launched, an _AFP_ journalist and multiple residents in Herat said the number of women leaving home had dropped sharply.\n\nA 20-year-old taxi driver said “they’re not seen in the city at all”.\n\n“We’ve been told not to transport women without a chador,” he said.\n\nOne woman described the situation as “unbearable”.\n\n“I am genuinely saddened that we don’t even have the right to breathe freely,” the 33-year-old said.\n\n“Life has become very difficult for us.”",
  "title": "Women detained in Afghanistan's Herat in clothing crackdown"
}