“The law on vice and virtue”: Another step back for the rights of Afghan women under the rule of the Talibans
(dot)gender | A space by LORENA STELLA MARTINI
When they seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Talibans established a “Ministry for the propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice”. The new institution was tellingly housed in the building which had previously hosted the Ministry of Women’s affairs. In late August 2024, the Ministry issued a Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice which further worsens the dire situation of women in the country.
Within its 35 articles, the law rules several aspects of women’s public life – or what is left of it, as Afghan women are strongly discouraged from leaving their house. When they do, the law commands them to be accompanied by a mahram (close relative) and to have their faces and bodies covered. Furthermore, women’s voices need to be concealed – a rule which applies to everything from speaking out loud during social or public gatherings to singing, reciting and “voice and music emanating from the home”[1].
This is the point which has triggered more concern since the promulgation of the law, as it perfectly exemplifies how women have been silenced – metaphorically and now also literally – by the Taliban regime. Indeed, throughout the past three years, Afghan women and girls have been progressively stripped of their fundamental rights – including their right to education, as access to secondary and high schools is forbiddento female students (we talked about it here back in March 2022).
The recent law on vice and virtue, which also restricts the activities of media in the country and imposes a dress code for men, has been condemned by the United Nations and the European Union as well as by many human rights organizations around the world. Yet such criticisms seem all but effective with the Taliban regime, which has threatened to withdraw cooperation with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) due to the position adopted by the UN on the new law. After such threat, the UN has made clear that it is committed to keep on engaging with all stakeholders in Afghanistan.
How to engage the current Afghan regime is an open question for many in the international community, given humanitarian, security and other strategic concerns. While on one hand keeping the dialogue open might be read as a legitimization of the Talibans’ rule, on the other it also allows to a certain extent to provide humanitarian assistance, advocate for the respect of human rights in the country, and keep violations under the international spotlight. Yet if diplomatic engagement with the regime comes with no effective conditionality regarding the respect of women’s rights and freedoms, then the risk of granting the Talibans international legitimacy while watching the relentless erosion of women’s rights is just around the corner.
[1] A basic English translation of the law is available here: AAN Translation: The Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law – Afghanistan | ReliefWeb