New wave of arrests target women in Afghanistan

Women in Herat, Afghanistan, are increasingly getting arrested because of alleged violations of dress requirements. UN Women Asia and the Pacific notes that “de facto” security personnel are using “excessive force” against women who had gathered in the city to protest the arrests. At least 30 women have been arrested and dozens more received verbal warnings. “A woman’s detention in Afghanistan carries enormous stigma,” said Georgette Gagnon, the UN secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan and officer-in-charge for United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. That “can put women at risk of further violence and isolation in their families and communities even after they are released.”