Soraya Mehran
Since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban have institutionalized the suppression of Afghan women through their so-called “Amr bil Ma’ruf wa Nahi an al-Munkar” — a body presented as a religious moral authority, but functioning as a machinery of fear and control. These “morality police” patrol the streets, interrogating women over their clothing, presence in public spaces, or even the absence of a male guardian.
What the Taliban label as “virtue enforcement” is, in reality, a systematic campaign to erase women from public life. Denying women the right to move freely, work, study, or simply exist in public without harassment is not only a gross violation of human rights, it constitutes a form of gender-based persecution recognized under international law.
The arbitrary arrests, public shaming, and physical violence used by these forces amount to acts of intimidation and collective punishment — practices that echo the darkest chapters of authoritarian rule. Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, such actions, when widespread and systematic, can be considered crimes against humanity.
Afghan women are not merely facing social restrictions; they are enduring a calculated, state-imposed imprisonment within their own country. The Taliban’s morality police are not safeguarding morality — they are weaponizing it, turning religion into a tool for silencing and controlling half of the population. The international community must name this for what it is: criminal governance, with women as its primary targets.
