UNAMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, has announced that enforcers of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice of the de facto authorities in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces have banned women without a male guardian (mahram) from accessing health services.
In a report released today (Sunday, Feb 8), the mission said that female healthcare workers are also not allowed to go to work without a male guardian.
The report states that enforcers of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice of the current authorities periodically monitor health facilities to prevent women without a male guardian from accessing health services and to stop women from working without a male guardian.
UNAMA further emphasized that in Uruzgan, the Promotion of Virtue authorities have instructed drivers not to transport women who are not accompanied by a male guardian.
The report also notes that in Kandahar, Promotion of Virtue enforcers have urged shopkeepers not to sell goods to women who are not accompanied by a male guardian.
UNAMA added that enforcers of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice also prevent women without a chadori (burqa) from accessing public places, including transportation, health facilities, and government offices.
The report also refers to the detention of women and girls in Herat for not wearing a burqa, stating that women who did not wear a burqa were barred from accessing hospitals, government offices, and wedding halls.
According to UNAMA’s report, the de facto authorities have also imposed restrictions on women’s movement in some provinces.
The report adds that in October, government forces prevented women from entering a Friday market and dispersed their gathering by firing shots into the air.
