Afghanistan female dress-code crackdown hits trade

HERAT:

Businesses in Afghanistan's western city of Herat have suffered from a downturn in female customers opting to stay home following a recent crackdown by morality police on women's attire, according to shopkeepers, drivers and residents.

Dozens of women were detained by the Taliban government's morality police in early June on accusations they were violating official dress codes by not wearing the body-cloaking chador or burqa.

A rare protest against the restrictions was violently dispersed with at least two people killed, according to the United Nations.

"Since those incidents occurred... there were no women in the markets," 26-year-old Ramin Ghafoori, a Herat-based businessman who runs a tailoring shop, told AFP.

Female shoppers dominate the customer base of the normally bustling markets in Herat, Afghanistan's western commercial hub and one of its largest cities.

"Ninety percent of our sales are to women, women come to buy even for men," said Nazeer Ahmad Azimi, who runs a shoe store, noting men were often too busy to shop, occupied in the job opportunities that have shrunk for women.

He estimated that the recent ramp-up of enforcement in restrictions on women had halved the turnover in the city's markets.

A spokesman for Herat's city administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the fallout of restrictions.

Since returning to power in 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed a series of rules on women's access to public life, barring them from studying beyond primary school, working in certain professions and visiting parks.

A 28-year-old Herat resident who asked not to be named for security reasons said she had stopped going out to meet friends with whom she used to patronise restaurants and go on shopping trips.

"I feel like a stranger," she said of her recent experience of her home city, echoing several women who told AFP the fear of being policed made them stay home.