Taliban Impose Further Curbs as Women banned from Restaurants with Gardens in Herat

The Taliban put a curb on the entry of families and women into restaurants with gardens or green spaces in Herat province, Afghanistan, as reported by Fox News. The decision was taken after religious clerics complained about mixing genders in such places. Afghan officials have stated that the said curbs have been introduced because of gender mixing or because women allegedly are not wearing the hijab.

So far, the outdoor dining ban only applies to establishments in Herat. Such premises remain open to men. Baz Mohammad Nazir, a deputy official from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue's directorate in Herat, clarified that all restaurants were not off limits to families and women. He said that the new rule applied only to restaurants with green areas, such as a park, where men and women could meet. "After repeated complaints from scholars and ordinary people, we set limits and closed these restaurants."

Azizurrahman Al Muhajir, head of the Vice and Virtue directorate in Herat, said, "It was like a park but they named it a restaurant and men and women were together. Thank God it has been corrected now. Also, our auditors are observing all the parks where men and women go."

This is one of the latest curbs imposed by the Taliban since they overtook power in August 2021. Girls have since been banned from classrooms beyond sixth grade and women from universities, most types of employment, including jobs at the United Nations. Women are also banned from public spaces such as parks and gyms.

Afghan women are prohibited from heading leadership posts, they also cannot work or travel unless accompanied by a male companion. Although the Taliban promised to reopen all schools on March 23 this year, but, however, they closed secondary institutions for girls on that day.

There is still no word on when or if these schools will reopen or if the ban is indefinite.