The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have mandated that all women- including patients, caretakers, and medical workers- must wear the burka to enter public hospitals in Herat city, according to medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
MSF said the rule took effect on 5 November.
Sarah Chateau, the organisation’s programme manager in Afghanistan, told the BBC these restrictions further impede women’s lives and limit women’s access to health care. Even those “in need of urgent medical care” were being affected.
Taliban officials denied the claim. Local reports suggest that after international concern was raised, some of the restrictions were partially eased.
MSF, which provides support to paediatric departments at Herat Regional Hospital, noted a 28% drop in the number of patients admitted with emergency conditions during the first few days of the new rule.
According to Chateau, Taliban members were stationed at hospital entrances, refusing entry to women who were not wearing a burka.
A spokesman from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice rejected reports that women were being forced to wear the burka.
“This is totally false. The position of the vice and virtue ministry is generally on the wearing of hijab,” said Saif-ul-Islam Khyber.
He also dismissed allegations that women had been barred from health centres for not wearing burkas. However, he added, “Hijab is interpreted differently in different parts of the country, most of which are in conflict with Sharia [law].”
Meanwhile, several women’s rights activists from Herat have claimed that Taliban guards have been strictly enforcing the burka rule for entry into hospitals, schools, and government offices over the past week.
One female activist told the BBC that women without burkas were being denied access to these institutions, describing the move as part of the Taliban’s growing restrictions on women’s mobility.
The reported enforcement has sparked criticism on social media. An Afghan activist posted a video on X showing women burning burkas in protest against the Taliban’s rule.
During the Taliban’s first regime in the 1990s, the burka became compulsory.
Since regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have introduced a series of measures limiting women’s rights in the name of Islamic Sharia.
In 2022, the Taliban issued a decree advising women to wear face-covering veils in public- though officials at the time described it as “guidance.”
“Even though the veil edict was announced earlier, this is the first time we are witnessing active enforcement of the burka in Herat. In recent days, more women are arriving at the hospital wearing burkas,” Chateau observed.
The Taliban have already banned women from most workplaces and universities and prohibited girls from attending secondary schools. The United Nations has repeatedly called on the group to end what it terms “gender apartheid.”
Last week, the UN temporarily suspended operations at a key border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran, citing restrictions on female Afghan staff.
Islam Qala, located in Herat province, serves as a major gateway for hundreds of thousands of Afghans forced to leave Iran over the past year.
