KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban’s promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice (PVPV) enforcers, the Taliban’s morality police, arrested nine individuals in Kabul on charges of “moral corruption and gambling.”
According to a statement from the Taliban’s PVPV ministry, the arrests took place in Kabul’s third and fifth police districts. The ministry stated that the detainees were held temporarily and later released “on bail.”
The arrests in Kabul are part of a broader trend. Over the past month, Taliban enforcers have detained 44 individuals, including six women, across various provinces, according to data obtained by Amu, a local media outlet. The charges ranged from “moral corruption” and gambling to witchcraft, illicit relationships, and violations of Islamic law.
The provinces with the highest number of reported arrests included Kandahar, Paktia, Khost, Ghazni, Kabul, Parwan, and Nangarhar. Residents say the arrests represent a growing encroachment on personal freedoms and privacy under the guise of enforcing religious law.
The recent arrests coincide with the enforcement of a controversial new law, the morality law, introduced by the Taliban in August, which grants the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice sweeping powers to detain and punish individuals. Among its most contentious provisions is the prohibition of women’s voices being audible in public spaces, a rule that has drawn widespread domestic and international criticism.
Under Article 13 of the law, women are required to cover their entire bodies, including their faces, to prevent what the Taliban describe as “seduction.” The article also declares a woman’s voice—for instance, singing, reciting poetry, or reading aloud in public—a form of “immodesty.”
The law further mandates that any woman leaving her home for essential purposes must conceal her voice, face, and body. Male enforcers are empowered to detain and punish women who fail to comply.
Public and global reactions
Critics, including Afghan citizens and international observers, argue that the new law undermines basic human rights and imposes severe restrictions on women’s autonomy. Many have accused the Taliban of using religious edicts to suppress freedoms and enforce their conservative ideology.
“The Taliban’s virtue enforcement is less about religion and more about control,” said one Kabul resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. “They are dismantling the fundamental rights of every individual, particularly women, under the pretext of morality.”
The Taliban, however, remain steadfast in their defense of the law. Officials have repeatedly emphasized its implementation as essential to their vision of governance, despite growing backlash from human rights groups and the international community.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have introduced a raft of policies that critics say disproportionately target women and curtail individual freedoms. These measures, including bans on women’s education and employment in many sectors, have isolated Afghanistan diplomatically and exacerbated the country’s humanitarian crisis.
