Sept 17 Reuters - Staff in the Kabul capital replaced signs for the country's women’s ministry with those of the Taliban's moral police on Friday, as female ex-employees from the department said they had been locked out of the building.
A sign for the building was covered by a replacement in a mixture of Dari and Arabic, reading ministries of prayer and guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice on Friday, according to pictures and Reuters witnesses.
Female employees said they had been trying to come to work for several weeks only to be told to return to their homes, according to videos filmed by Reuters outside the building.
The gates of the building were finally locked on Thursday, one woman said.
I am the second breadwinner in my family, said a single woman that also said she worked in the department. What can an Afghan woman do when there is no ministry in Afghanistan? Taliban spokesmen and drone operators did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
When the Taliban were the last in power, who held control of Afghanistan last month amid the chaos following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, for the span of 1996-2001 years girls were not allowed to attend school and women were banned from work and education.
During that period, the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice became known as the group's public law officer, enforcing its interpretation of sharia that included a strict dress code and public executions and floggings.
A list of cabinet posts announced by the Taliban on Sept. 7 included an acting minister for promotion of virtue and prevention of vice and made no mention of a woman's minister, but the group did not confirm the department had been disbanded or moved into new territory to ensure that none of the cabinet posts were being destroyed or declared public.
A senior Taliban leader yesterday said that women would not be allowed to work in ministries with men.