Last month, the Taliban cemented its latest list of morality laws designed to keep women covered, quiet, and stuck at home. The statutes include punishments for making eye contact with a man, talking loudly or singing in the house, and speaking in public. 

Since taking control in 2021, the Taliban has tried to regain control of how women act and dress in public. They have rules about behavior, clothing, and separating men and women in society, but these rules were not consistently enforced. 

However, on August 21, the Taliban officially made these strict rules into law, causing fear among people that enforcement would become even more stringent. 

But that’s the purpose of the laws. Afghanistan had the perfect opportunity to reestablish brutal Taliban rules after Biden’s hasty and ill-planned withdrawal of U.S. troops. But how can so many laws be enforced across the country? 

The Taliban has little use for women, but ironically, they have found at least one. They are spying on other women. 

While women are banned from working outside the home, they are being tapped to turn in other women who aren’t following the rules—but it’s not a desire to see the laws enforced. For most, it’s a way out of brutal punishments for their own violations. For others, it’s the only job a woman can get under the oppressive Taliban rules. 

An official explained, “Some women were arrested and released only on the condition that they inform the ministry of any illegal activity they observe from the women they follow.” 

Some women work at the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV), which enforces the rules, and the Taliban wants to hire more.  

An official said that the Taliban needs women to “handle” other women.  

The Taliban has hired women to watch Instagram pages and report when other women post pictures showing their faces. An official explained that even though women hide their pages so others can’t see them, their female force monitors the platform. 

These female enforcers are permitted to speak with men if their job requires it, such as when they “combat prostitution” or go with men on street patrols. 

Dr. Zahra Haqparast was one of the women reported by an informant after she organized a protest in Kabul following the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. The former dentist lost her job when the Taliban regained control. 

She mentioned that the Taliban used women against other women by having girls pretend to be activists in their WhatsApp groups. Dr. Haqparast was arrested because one of these women gave the Taliban her home and office addresses.  

She believes some women work for the Taliban out of financial desperation, as the former government previously employed many.  

These women have helped the Taliban arrest many protesters. During rallies for women’s rights, many protesters were beaten and tortured by women working for the Taliban. 

Some women fully support the new morality laws and voluntarily choose to work with Taliban enforcers. 

One such female informant said she doesn’t appreciate women who protest in the streets. She said that the women’s claims of representing all women are wrong. The informant explains they don’t represent her or many other Muslim women who are tired of seeing “indecency.”  

She believes that supporting non-believers isn’t true freedom. To her, freedom means women should stay home, raise their children, serve their husbands, and not worry about anything else. She feels proud to help enforce the “new rules.” 

A 36-year-old woman describes her work as an informant for the MPVPV. Some days, she patrols the city to find women who don’t follow the rules of virtue. On other days, she visits busy supermarkets and women’s clothing shops to check if women are not following the dress code.  

She doesn’t intervene directly when she sees a woman with an uncovered face and visible ankles or who laughs with shopkeepers. She contacts male officers and says dealing with these women is their job. Many of the women are taken to police stations after they turn them in. 

She also notes that the soldiers show up with American rifles left behind after America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

Women who enjoyed freedom under the protection of America are thrown to the wolves again after Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from the country. And having had a taste of freedom, their fate is twice as cruel.