KABUL – The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has barred male tailors from making women’s clothing in Kandahar, further tightening restrictions on women’s access to public life, local sources told reporters.
According to the sources, Taliban officials delivered the order on Sunday, September 21, to tailors across the city, including the tailoring district of Rangrezan.
Following the directive, all shops that previously specialized in women’s clothes have now been shut down.
Several tailors were also detained last week, though no official explanation has been given for the ban.
Local Taliban officials in Kandahar have not commented on the matter.
The measure is the latest in a sweeping set of repressive gender policies imposed by the Taliban since regaining power in 2021.
Women have been banned from most forms of employment, secondary and higher education, gyms, parks, and beauty salons. Even seemingly routine activities, such as visiting public baths, traveling without a male guardian, or accessing basic healthcare, have been severely curtailed.
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have described the Taliban’s system of restrictions as a form of gender persecution and apartheid, accusing the group of seeking to erase women from public and economic life.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that these policies may amount to crimes against humanity.
