Executive Summary

Following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the group has progressively reimposed severe restrictions on the fundamental rights of citizens especially women under the banner of “promotion of virtue and prevention of vice.”

In contrast to their first period of rule (1996–2001), when morality police operated without a formal legal code and relied on scattered decrees or personal discretion, Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada formally signed the “Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” on 19 April 2024 (19/04/1403 Solar Hijri). 

The law contains a preamble, four chapters, and 35 articles. It defines terms, lists categories of “virtuous” and “prohibited” acts, and grants extensive powers to morality enforcers (muhtasibs).

The authorities established the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and Handling of Complaints, and symbolically housed it in the former Ministry of Women’s Affairs building, signaling a deliberate structural reversal of women’s rights gains.

Although the law invokes the Islamic principle of amr bil ma’ruf wa nahi anil munkar (“commanding right and forbidding wrong”) and cites classical sources in footnotes, many provisions conflict with mainstream Islamic jurisprudence, particularly contemporary Hanafi interpretations; For example, the expansive definition of mandatory hijab (Article 3, clause 10) and restrictions in Articles 13 and 22 go beyond widely accepted scholarly opinions.

This study focuses on the real-world social, economic, and legal impacts of the law. Data were gathered through a field survey of 770 respondents (91% women, 70% aged 20–45) in Kabul, Herat, Bamyan, and Daikundi during the second half of 1404 Solar Hijri (mid-2025 to early 2026), using anonymous questionnaires via trusted networks for security reasons.

For a summary policy paper in English, click here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xbZG_FH_oesvnsCjw7k7uq9prxvBn-h8/view?usp=drive_link