UN Raises Alarm Over Taliban's Arbitrary Arrests of Women for Hijab Violations

Enforcement campaigns in Kabul and Daykundi provinces have led to large numbers of women and girls being warned and detained since the start of the year.

• The United Nations mission in Afghanistan has expressed deep concern over the Taliban's arbitrary arrests and detentions of women and girls for alleged violations of dress codes regarding the Islamic headscarf, or hijab.
• Enforcement campaigns have been ongoing since January 1 in Kabul and Daykundi provinces, with large numbers of women and girls warned and detained.
• The UN is investigating claims of ill treatment of women and extortion in exchange for their release, warning that physical violence and detentions are demeaning and dangerous.
• The Taliban's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, dismissed the UN's concerns, stating that Afghan women wear hijab of their own accord and do not need to be forced.
• A spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry, Abdul Ghafar Farooq, rejected reports that women and girls were being arrested or beaten for wearing 'bad hijab' and called it propaganda from the foreign media.

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