Date: 14/08/1404
New Taliban Restriction in Herat: Women Without Burqas Not Allowed to Enter Hospitals
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) wrote on its X page on Sunday, 9 November, that since 5 November, new local restrictions have been imposed in Herat Province requiring female patients, their companions, and female health workers to wear a burqa (chadari) in order to enter medical facilities, including the Herat Regional Hospital.

The organization quoted one of its managers, Sarah Chateau, stating:
“These restrictions have made women’s lives even more difficult and have further limited their access to healthcare.”
MSF added with concern that as a result of these new rules, the number of female patients visiting the emergency department of Herat Provincial Hospital has decreased by 28% in the past two days.

Some women told Radio Azadi that Taliban forces have acted violently while enforcing these new restrictions.
A 53‑year‑old woman from Herat claimed that after the Taliban’s decision to make the burqa mandatory—not just in the province but even in hospitals and government offices women without burqas are denied entry everywhere.

She said that she and several other women have been subjected to verbal and physical mistreatment by the Taliban’s morality police for not wearing a burqa. The woman, who did not want her name mentioned due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Radio Azadi:
“This morning I went and bought a burqa for 1,200 Afghanis because I am traveling to Iran, and the morality police stand at the border. If you don’t have a burqa, they force you out of the vehicle, and sometimes they even shave the driver’s legs as punishment. You cannot enter hospitals, offices, or any institution without a burqa.”

Another young woman from the Province, who also requested anonymity, told Radio Azadi that this Taliban decision has created numerous difficulties:
“Over the past few days, the Taliban have put huge pressure on women to wear burqas. Even in Herat’s markets, where women go shopping, they stand there and tell you to immediately buy and wear a burqa.”

Taliban officials in Herat, as well as Saif‑ul‑Islam Khyber, the spokesperson of the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, did not respond to Radio Azadi’s questions regarding these complaints and allegations.

On Sunday, 9 November, Saif‑ul‑Islam Khyber stated in an audio message to the media that the issue of mandatory burqas is not accurate, but emphasized that women and girls across Afghanistan are obligated to observe “Islamic hijab.”

On 17 Saur 1401, Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree instructing the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to enforce mandatory hijab for women, stressing that women should stay at home as much as possible.

The decree stated that women must cover their faces in public, should not leave the house unnecessarily, and that the male guardian of a woman who disobeys will be punished.

Since then, both the decree and its enforcement have sparked widespread reactions inside and outside Afghanistan.

This entry documents the imposition of a requirement that women wear burqas to access healthcare facilities in Herat Province, including patients, companions, and female health workers. The enforcement of dress-based conditions for entry, accompanied by reported coercion and a measurable decline in patient access, reflects the use of restrictive measures to regulate women’s access to essential services. It indicates the systematic integration of such controls into the health sector, with direct impacts on service delivery and women’s ability to seek timely medical care.