Taliban replaces women's ministry with ministry of virtue and vice

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Sept 17 (Reuters) - Workers in the Afghan capital Kabul replaced signs for the country's women's ministry with those for the Taliban's moral police on Friday, as female former employees of 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 photographs 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 outside the building seen by Reuters.

The gates of the building were finally locked on Thursday, one of the women said.

"I am the only breadwinner in my family," said a second woman, who also said she worked in the department. "When there is no ministry, what should an Afghan woman do?"

[1/2] A group of women gather for a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 16, 2021 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Video taken September 16, 2021. ZAKIA KAWYAN/via REUTERS

Taliban spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.

When the Taliban, who seized control of Afghanistan last month last amid the chaos following the withdrawal of U.S. troops, were last in power from 1996-2001 girls were not allowed to attend school and women were banned from work and education.

During that period its Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice became known as the group's moral police, 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 the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice and made no mention of a women's minister, but the group did not confirm the department had been disbanded.

A senior Taliban leader said earlier this week that women would not be allowed to work in government ministries with men.

Reporting by Islamabad newsroom and Alasdair Pal; Editing by Alex Richardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Thomson Reuters

Alasdair leads the team covering breaking news in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Before moving to Sydney, he covered general news in New Delhi, where he reported from the front-line of the coronavirus pandemic in India and the insurgency in Kashmir, as well as extended periods in Pakistan and, most recently, in Sri Lanka covering its ongoing economic crisis. His reporting on Islamic State suicide bombings in Sri Lanka in 2019 was highly commended as the Society of Publishers in Asia awards. He previously worked as a financial reporter in London, with a particular interest in hedge funds and accounting frauds. Signal app phone number: +61439529540

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