1.2.4. Policy implementation

Table of contents

1.2.4. Policy implementation

In April 2024, Obaidullah Baheer, adjunct lecturer with the American University of Afghanistan, described ‘a constant tug of war’ between what is being decreed and what is actually being enforced in Afghanistan.216 Not all issued instructions been actively enforced,217 and regional variances have been noted.218 This discrepancy stems from the fact that some decisions have not been embraced throughout the Taliban movement,219 and also from influence of local contexts and stakeholders.220 However, several sources noted a general trend of more uniform enforcement across the country, with local variations decreasing.221 The de facto authorities have also created provincial enforcement committees to support the ‘Morality law’s’ implementation in the provinces.222

Despite more systematic and consistent enforcement efforts, some regional variations continued to be reported in 2025.223 These inconsistencies were attributed, in part, to varying norms of local de facto officials224 and the ambiguous wording of some articles in the ‘Morality law’, leaving room for diverse interpretations.225

The vague formulations of issued instructions also create leeway for individual enforcers to be lenient or strict.226 The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) noted that some de facto officials may go beyond issued restrictions, and for example tell women to wear burqa combined with gloves and to always be accompanied outdoors – which is stricter than issued instructions.227

The intensity of the enforcement has moreover varied over time,228 like a ‘wavelike movement’ as described by Afghanistan expert Thomas Ruttig in an interview with ACCORD in October 2024.229 For instance, after the announcement of the ‘Morality law’ in 2024, sources noted an increased presence of enforcers in Kabul City230 and various provinces.231 International Crisis Group similarly noted how the de facto MPVPV come out ‘in full force’ after the announcement of new restrictions, while they at other times ‘are far from omnipresent’232

  • 216

    Baheer, O., interview, 25 April 2024

  • 217

    Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Afghanistan: Ruling by Decree, April 2024, url, pp. 3–4; Afghan analyst, online interview, 1 October 2024. The interview was conducted by the EUAA in cooperation with the Austrian, Norwegian and Swedish COI units.

  • 218

    Rahimi, H. and Watkins, A., Taliban Rule at 2.5 Years, CTC Sentinel, January 2024, url, p. 3; UNAMA, De Facto Authorities’ Moral Oversight in Afghanistan: Impacts on Human Rights, July 2024, url, p. 6; ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 78

  • 219

    ACAPS, Afghanistan: Taliban directives and decrees affecting human rights and humanitarian actors, 25 April 2023, url, p. 3

  • 220

    International Crisis Group, Afghanistan Three Years after the Taliban Takeover, 14 August 2024, url; ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 25

  • 221

    Sweden, Swedish Migration Agency, Afghanistan. Restriktioner och begränsningar av personlig frihet under talibanstyret, 16 April 2024, url, p. 12; Rahimi, H. and Watkins, A., Taliban Rule at 2.5 Years, CTC Sentinel, January 2024, url, p. 3; UN Women, Four Years of Taliban Rule: Afghan Women Resist as Restrictions Tighten, August 2025, url, p. 4

  • 222

    UNAMA, Report on the Implementation, Enforcement and Impact of the aw on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Afghanistan, April 2025, url, pp. 3, 7

  • 223

    UNAMA, Report on the Implementation, Enforcement and Impact of the Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Afghanistan, April 2025, url, p. 7; AW, Policing Morality in Afghanistan, 17 March 2025, url, p. 8

  • 224

    ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 25; AW, Policing Morality in Afghanistan, 17 March 2025, url, p. 8

  • 225

    Obaidullah Baheer in: New Humanitarian (The), How the Taliban’s vice and virtue law is impacting foreign aid and engagement, 22 October 2024, url

  • 226

    Obaidullah Baheer in: New Humanitarian (The), How the Taliban’s vice and virtue law is impacting foreign aid and engagement, 22 October 2024, url; Afghan analyst, email, 5 January 2026

  • 227

    Clark, K., A year of Propagating Virtue and Preventing Vice: Enforcers and ‘enforced’ speak about the Emirate’s morality law, AAN, 21 August 2025, url

  • 228

    ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 26; International Crisis Group, A Precarious Lifeline? Women-led Business in Afghanistan, 17 December 2025, url

  • 229

    ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 26

  • 230

    Afghan analyst, online interview 1 October 2024. The interview was conducted by the EUAA in cooperation with the Austrian, Norwegian and Swedish COI units.

  • 231

    UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 20 February 2025, url, para. 15

  • 232

    International Crisis Group, A Precarious Lifeline? Women-led Business in Afghanistan, 17 December 2025, url