MSF slams Afghan female worker detention over dress code

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Thursday strongly condemned the detention by the Taliban's morality police of one of the NGO's employees in the western Afghan city of Herat for violating a dress code imposed on women.

Tensions have been mounting in Herat for days after a crackdown on women's dress sparked protests during which a boy was shot dead on Tuesday, according to the United Nations.

A female medical worker heading to Herat Regional Hospital was stopped by representatives of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) on June 6 and accused of failing to comply with its dress code for women.

The employee, who worked in the MSF-supported pediatric ward at the hospital, was detained for two days and released on June 8 after having to sign, together with her husband and relatives, a written commitment to wear clothing mandated by the PVPV in the future.

MSF "is outraged by the arrest and detention of one of its employees as part of the enforcement of dress code requirements in the city," the group said. "This incident is not isolated. Women in Afghanistan already face very severe restrictions on movement and access to public life."

In the country, women must be almost entirely covered when they leave their homes. They are barred from certain professions and from pursuing education beyond the primary level.

Additional restrictions, including mandatory all-covering burqas "further undermine access to essential medical services and hinder the ability of female healthcare workers to provide care," MSF's statement read.

The PVPV, which deploys agents to enforce the law, has not commented on the detention of women in Herat over dress code violations, despite requests for comment from AFP.

However, the ministry's department in Herat said new regulations had recently come into force and warned that violations could lead to detention or imprisonment.

The measures include a ban on women and girls exposing their feet in public or wearing makeup.