Event Summary
On 5 November 2025, Taliban authorities in Herat Province reportedly implemented an edict requiring women to wear a burqa (full-body covering with face mesh) to enter government offices, public spaces, malls, hospitals, and other institutions. Local sources stated women without burqas were denied entry to facilities including the civil registry, the education department, and her regional hospital. At least fifty women were reportedly turned away.
Multiple reports also indicate that female doctors, patients, and staff have been barred from Herat’s regional hospital and other healthcare facilities if they were not wearing the mandated burqa, with some reports of women being physically prevented from entering and facing intimidation.
This event forms part of a well-established and systematic pattern of restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power. While the specific rules and the severity of their enforcement can vary by province and district, the overall trajectory at the national level has been one of progressively tightening controls on women’s presence in public and civic life.