t the same time that the interim government has banned women without the burqa from entering shops and markets in Herat, it has now also prohibited women from entering government offices without wearing the burqa.
At least three sources have reported that on Wednesday, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice prevented more than 50 women from entering government offices and the regional hospital in Herat.
The source added that officers of the ministry stationed at the entrances of departments such as the Directorate of Education, the provincial hospital, the prison, the Civil Registration Office, and the public library did not allow women without burqas to enter.
In videos circulated on social media, women and girls without burqas can be seen denied entry to the Herat regional hospital, left waiting outside its gates.
According to the source, the purpose of this action is to compel women to wear the burqa by force.
This measure comes as the current government has recently imposed further restrictions on women’s clothing and public presence in Herat.
Yesterday, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice held a meeting with shopkeepers and wedding hall managers in the city, instructing them not to allow women and girls without burqas, prayer shawls, or face veils to enter markets or wedding halls.
A few weeks ago, the same ministry in Herat also prevented women and girls from entering the “Friday Market” located on the 64-Meter Road in the city.
