Date: 17/01/1402 On March 7, 2023, the Taliban imposed new restrictions on women dining in restaurants in Herat. According to Radio Free Europe, sources reported that Mawlawi Abdul Rahman, head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat, announced that while the Taliban do not interfere with hotels, women are banned from visiting restaurants with green areas, even when accompanied by their families.

He stated: “Where men and women go together, there is mixing, which leads to illicit relationships, immorality, misfortune, and enmity among people. Just as women have been prohibited from parks, restaurants with park-like areas should also be prohibited.”

Alongside the long list of restrictions the Taliban has imposed on women, the local Taliban government in Herat has now placed limitations on women dining outside their homes with their families, particularly in restaurants with green areas.

The Taliban’s extension of restrictions to include restaurants with green areas—even when women are accompanied by family—reflects a policy of total gender exclusion from shared public life. By equating outdoor dining with immorality and banning women’s presence in such spaces, the Taliban continue to impose social and spatial apartheid, erasing women’s visibility and autonomy in everyday life.