Throughout history, the notion of “virtue” has been wielded as a double-edged sword. While the term itself calls to mind images of righteousness, it has too often been twisted into a tool of oppression. The current situation in Afghanistan provides a somber reminder of how virtue, when enforced as a means of control, loses its sanctity and becomes a weapon against those it claims to protect. Under the guise of upholding moral values, a regime is systematically erasing women from public life, casting a long shadow of despair over half the country’s population.
In Afghanistan ‘Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice’ has turned into a ministry of suppression, which makes stringent rules and regulations, which are against women’s basic rights. These new regulations, which include bans on women raising their voices or interacting with men outside their families, contradict fundamental Islamic teachings that emphasise justice, compassion and dignity for all individuals. The rulers of Afghanistan are trying to disguise their flawed and repressive policies in the mantle of religious purity.
The paradox lies in the fact that genuine virtue cannot be coerced. Real moral character is what develops with personal understanding that comes from education and thinking and a moral compass, not from strict precepts of conduct that aim to eliminate creativity. This misuse of virtue has occasioned the closure of women educational institutions, limited women employment, and eliminated women from the public domain. It is a war on women, a war that aims at the complete erasure of women’s voices and their possibility.
The exchange of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was laden with making gender apartheid structural. This decision not only declared the intention of the regime to leave women out of society but also declared the inferiority of women. The very ministry that was once advocating for women’s rights was replaced by an organisation that aims at imprisoning women in the name of morality. This transformation reveals that the persecution of women is not about virtue – it is about power and control.
Ironically, the new restrictions imposed are at odds with the teachings of Islam itself. Islam, like many other religions, advocates for the respect and dignity of all individuals. It emphasises education and the pursuit of knowledge as obligations for both men and women. Yet, by banning women from higher education and destroying their livelihoods, the regime is disregarding these fundamental principles. Instead, it enforces a narrow and distorted interpretation of morality, which stifles the spirit of Afghan women and confines them to the shadows of society.
The international community has only responded to these developments with lukewarm enthusiasm at best. However, there have been no concrete measures to challenge these types of institutionalised gender segregation apartheid. Appeals to human rights and international conventions have been almost completely ignored. Therefore, it is high time for global actors to come out of the rhetoric and take concrete actions to put pressure on the regime to change such policies. That is why silence and passiveness in the face of such severe injustice means consent.
The paradox of virtue in Afghanistan reveals a troubling reality: when virtue is dictated rather than inspired, it ceases to be virtuous. Instead, it converts into an act of obliterating voices, suppressing dreams, and teaching compliance and obedience. It has become the norm to wish to impose a concept of right and wrong while concealing it behind ‘moral policing’. What is being enforced is not virtue, but the obliteration of half the population’s possibility, their aspirations and their freedom to live.
The global community must recognise this reality and act accordingly. It must push back against the regime’s institutionalised gender apartheid that has turned Afghanistan into a prison for its women. If we allow virtue to become synonymous with persecution, then we betray the very values we claim to uphold. True virtue lies in promoting justice, respect and the fair treatment of all individuals – anything less is a betrayal of humanity’s shared moral compass.
