KABUL: The Taliban are attempting to present a normalized image of women’s roles in Afghanistan by releasing videos featuring a limited number of women in the police force of the Ministry of Interior. However, investigations reveal that the women allowed to work are mostly older, unarmed, and have restricted duties focused primarily on dealing with women and girls. Currently, some older women are active within the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior, which is led by Sirajuddin Haqqani. Unlike their male counterparts, the women do not carry weapons, and their roles are largely limited to physical inspections, detentions, and questioning of women and girls. During the previous republic government, the Taliban openly opposed the presence of women in security institutions, and women working in the army and police were frequently threatened and attacked. After the Taliban regained power, younger women who had previously served in the police were dismissed, and only some older women were allowed to continue working, restricted to supervisory roles rather than professional security positions. In the videos released by the Taliban, a woman is introduced as a police officer with her face covered, dressed in accordance with the group’s dress code. She is shown alongside other women police officers detaining women who are begging due to poverty, claiming that women are active in various police roles, even at the command level. The claims come at a time when, during the republic’s government, women actively participated in specialized, managerial, and decision-making positions within security institutions that have now completely vanished.The Taliban’s Ministry of Interior previously stated that about 2,000 women work within the ministry’s structure, including the police, but no details regarding their duties, qualifications, or locations of work have been provided. Reports also indicate that in several provinces, there are no female police officers, and inspections are conducted by male personnel. Critics argue that the limited, unarmed, and controlled presence of older women in the Taliban police is not a sign of improved conditions for women, nor does it reflect their equal participation; rather, it is viewed as part of a mechanism for controlling and subduing women.
