4.4.3. Freedom of movement

Table of contents

4.4.3. Freedom of movement

Since the Taliban takeover women have been instructed not to travel more than 72 km without an accompanying male relative (mahram),1263 and since March 2022, unaccompanied women have been barred from boarding domestic or international flights.1264 Women and girls have moreover been restricted from accessing public spaces such as public bathhouses, gyms and parks,1265 and in some areas, there have been further restrictions on unaccompanied women accessing to certain religious sites such as shrines1266 and restaurants.1267 Drivers of commercial vehicles have been instructed not to pick up female passengers without a hijab covering their hair (26 December 2021),1268 and the ‘Morality law’ further specifies that women offered transport are not to be uncovered, unaccompanied or ‘sit or mingle with an unrelated man’ (31 July 2024).1269

The restriction on solo travelling of women has sometimes been enforced for shorter distances than 72 km,1270 reportedly even for short trips1271 or leaving the house.1272 In 2023, journalist Ali Latifi stated that the restriction was implemented inconsistently, being ignored by ‘thousands of women’ still going out on a daily basis’.1273 Yet, since the ‘Morality law’ the implementation and the enforcement of the mahram requirement intensified.1274 In several instances, it was more stringently enforced than stipulated in the current laws.1275 Women are increasingly self-regulating1276 and some ‘limit their outings to essential needs or avoid going out altogether’1277 or ‘rarely leave the house, or only with a man’.1278

Even though the de facto MPVPV has stated that the mahram regulation is not absolute and does not apply for families without male relatives,1279 it has been described as a source of distress for women without a mahram in their family.1280 Women without access to a mahram were described as having a particularly precarious situation, as the restrictions made it more difficult for them to access services and humanitarian assistance.1281 It is not possible to say from what age a boy can be considered as a woman’s mahram.1282 Some situations allow young boys to accompany a woman,1283 and the enforcement of the mahram requirement is reportedly sometimes circumstantial, with women being allowed to accompany each other for shorter trips in some more conservative provinces,1284 and women traveling in groups of other women.1285

The implementation of the mahram requirement has differed across the country.1286 In October 2024, Ruttig noted that in the south, ‘much more pressure’ existed, whereas the de facto authorities were more flexible in Kabul. Two other persons interviewed by ACCORD in August and November 2024 also described the mahram regulation in Kabul as more lenient, for example in the sense that a woman could go out and purchase something without a mahram. A person interviewed by ACCORD in October 2024 described that in Badakhshan, women went to the market by themselves, whereas in Nangarhar, it was more conservative, and women were ‘always under the watch’.1287 The AAN also reported on restrictions on women’s movement being more noticeable in some areas;1288 some Afghans in the provinces of Jawzjan, Baghlan and Ghazni told the AAN that having a mahram was being strictly enforced, even for short distances, making it impossible for women to go outdoors alone.1289 The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan noted that, within weeks of the ‘Morality law’s’ announcement, women across Afghanistan reported facing tightened restrictions on their movement, including being stopped, interrogated, and harassed at checkpoints, regardless of the distance they travelled. Even when accompanied by a mahram, women reported scrutiny to ensure that their mahram was an immediate family member. In some areas enforcers have been using loudspeakers to humiliate unaccompanied women.1290 The de facto authorities have reportedly been focusing on the enforcement of the ban on using transport without a mahram in particular.1291

Sources reported on consequences for travelling without a mahram including arrests,1292 sometimes with ‘rigorous inspections’,1293 harassment and beatings.1294 According to Rawadari, women had also been arrested for leaving the house without a mahram.1295

There have been cases in which unaccompanied women were barred from leaving the country1296 and in some cases even despite having a mahram, for example when trying to go abroad to study.1297 Reportedly, in some cases it is still possible to leave the country via the airport without a mahram after individual negotiations with the airport staff.1298

The mahram requirement creates barriers for women and girls to access public services, work and conduct other activities outside their homes.1299 Women have also been barred from entering de facto government offices without a mahram.1300 According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), in some provinces, also women with a mahram were denied access to de facto government premises.1301 In general, women cannot appear in court without a mahram.1302 As reported by UNAMA, the de facto MPVPV have instructed health clinics, shops, markets, government offices and taxi drivers to deny services to unaccompanied women.1303 Unaccompanied women have moreover been denied access to markets in some provinces,1304 including in Uruzgan, Farah and Kandahar, as reported by UNAMA.1305 Moreover, sources reported that women in some provinces have to be accompanied by a mahram to access healthcare facilities, and that female healthcare workers had to be accompanied by a mahram to go to work.1306 The mahram requirement has also made the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance to women more difficult.1307

  • 1263

    RFE/RL, Afghan Women Banned From Making Trips Unless Escorted, 26 December 2021, url; RFE/RL, Afghans Fear For Their Rights As Taliban Resurrects Religious Policing, 6 January 2022, url

  • 1264

    Reuters, Taliban ban women in Afghanistan from flying without male chaperone, 27 March 2022, url; Bjelica J., What Do Young Afghan Women Do? A glimpse into everyday life after the bans, AAN, 17 August 2023, url

  • 1265

    Bjelica J., What Do Young Afghan Women Do? A glimpse into everyday life after the bans, ANN, 17 August 2023, url; UN Women, Gender alert: Four years of Taliban rule: Afghan women resist as restrictions tighten, 29 August 2025, url, p.4

  • 1266

    Rawadari, Afghanistan Human Rights Situation Report 2024, 19 March 2025, url, pp. 36, 72; USIP, Tracking the Taliban's (Mis)Treatment of Women, n.d., url

  • 1267

    Clark K. and AAN-Team, A year of Propagating Virtue and Preventing Vice: Enforcers and ‘enforced’ speak about the Emirate’s morality law, AAN, 21 August 2025, url; USIP, Tracking the Taliban's (Mis)Treatment of Women, n.d., url

  • 1268

    EASO, Afghanistan – Targeting of Individuals, August 2022, url, pp. 43–45, 100

  • 1269

    Afghanistan, de facto authorities, The Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law [unofficial translation by the AAN], August 2024, url, art. 20

  • 1270

    UN Human Rights Council, The phenomenon of an institutionalized system of discrimination, segregation,

  • 1271

    van Bijlert M., In pursuit of virtue: Men’s view on the Islamic Emirate’s restrictions on Afghan women, AAN, January 2025, url, p. 32

  • 1272

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

  • 1273

    Latifi, A., interview 8–9 June 2023, and email communication, 9 October 2023

  • 1274

    UN Human Rights Council, The situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 5 September 2025, url, paras. 16, 19, 27; UN OHCHR, The situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 8 October 2025, url, para. 15

  • 1275

    UN Security Council, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 21 February 2025, url, para. 39; Clark K. and AAN-Team, A year of Propagating Virtue and Preventing Vice: Enforcers and ‘enforced’ speak about the Emirate’s morality law, AAN, 21 August 2025, url

  • 1276

    UN Human Rights Council, Study on the so-called law on the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, 12 March 2025, url, para. 54

  • 1277

    Bishnaw, The PVPV Law and its Impact on Women and their Communities, 31 December 2024, url, p. 2

  • 1278

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

  • 1279

    Ruttig T., Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 43; BBC News Persian, حکومت طالبان: صدای زنان در موارد ضروری ممنوع نیست [Taliban government: Women’s voices are not prohibited in essential cases], 3 October 2025, url,

  • 1280

    ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 43

  • 1281

    ACAPS, Afghanistan, Third update on Taliban decrees and directives relevant to the humanitarian response (July–December 2024), 24 December 2024, url, p. 5

  • 1282

    ACAPS, Afghanistan, Third update on Taliban decrees and directives relevant to the humanitarian response (July–December 2024), 24 December 2024, url, p. 4

  • 1283

    ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, pp. 41–42

  • 1284

    Clark, K., Law, Control, Fear – and some Defiance, December 2025, url, p. 20

  • 1285

    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

  • 1286

    AFP, Afghan women struggle under male guardian rules, 10 May 2024, url; Clark K. and AAN-Team, A year of Propagating Virtue and Preventing Vice: Enforcers and ‘enforced’ speak about the Emirate’s morality law, AAN, 21 August 2025, url; ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, pp. 40-46

  • 1287

    ACCORD, Afghanistan: Report on the impact of the Taliban’s information practices and legal policies, particularly on women and girls, February 2025, url, p. 44

  • 1288

    Bjelica, J., Rural Women’s Access to Health in Afghanistan: “Most of the time we just don’t go”, AAN, March 2025, url, p. 25; 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

  • 1289

    Bjelica, J., Rural Women’s Access to Health in Afghanistan: “Most of the time we just don’t go”, AAN, March 2025, url, pp. 25–26; 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

  • 1290

    UN Human Rights Council, Study on the so-called law on the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, 12 March 2025, url, paras. 53, 78

  • 1291

    UN Security Council, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 6 December 2024, url, para. 37

  • 1292

    UN Human Rights Council, The situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 5 September 2025, url, p. 5

  • 1293

    AFP, Afghan women struggle under male guardian rules, 10 May 2024, url

  • 1294

    AW, Policing Morality in Afghanistan: The Impact of the Taliban’s Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, 2 May 2025, url, p. 2

  • 1295

    Rawadari, Afghanistan Human Rights Situation Report 2024, 19 March 2025, url,p. 24

  • 1296

    Khaama Press, A Generation in Waiting: Four Years After the Fall of the Afghan Republic, 15 august 2025, url

  • 1297

    BBC News, Taliban stop female Afghan students leaving country to study in Dubai, 28 August 2023, url; Al Jazeera, Rights groups condemn Taliban’s new curbs on women’s education, movement, 28 August 2023, url

  • 1298

    Sweden, Migrationsverket, Afghanistan: Identitetshandlingar, 10 October 2025, url, p. 29; Mirzada R. and Shapour R., The Daily Hustle: A young women’s journey home for the summer holidays, AAN, 13 October 2024, url

  • 1299

    UNAMA, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: April-June 2025, 10 August 2025, url, pp. 2–3; UNAMA, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: October-December 2024, 28 January 2025, url, pp. 2–3

  • 1300

    AFP, Afghan women struggle under male guardian rules, 10 May 2024, url; Clark K. and AAN-Team, A year of Propagating Virtue and Preventing Vice: Enforcers and ‘enforced’ speak about the Emirate’s morality law, AAN, 21 August 2025, url

  • 1301

    UN Human Rights Council, The situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 5 September 2025, url, para. 15

  • 1302

    UN Human Rights Council, Access to justice and protection for women and girls and the impact of multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination, 16 June 2025, url, para. 45

  • 1303

    UNAMA, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: April-June 2025, 10 August 2025, url, pp. 2–3; UNAMA, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: October-December 2024, 28 January 2025, url, pp. 2–3

  • 1304

    UN Human Rights Council, The situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 5 September 2025, url, para. 15

  • 1305

    UNAMA, Update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan: July-September 2025, 28 October 2025, url, p. 3

  • 1306

    UN Security Council, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 21 February 2025, url, para. 39

  • 1307

    UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in Afghanistan, 20 February 2025, url, para. 98; AP Giha WG, UN Women, UN Women, Women and Girls in Crisis: 2024 Gender Analysis of Humanitarian Sectors in Afghanistan, 27 April 2025, url, pp.12-13