Apparently the American-supported government of Afghanistan has begun the process of reinstituting its “Vice and Virtue Ministry.”  Under the Taliban, this official government Ministry employed 32,000 people to enforce stringent religious rules that tilted heavily toward repressing women.  Horror stories have been told about harassment and imprisonment faced by women for offenses including wearing socks that were too translucent, allowing their wrists to show in public, and homeschooling their daughters. 

In this new manifestation, the identically-named ministry – a “symbol of the brutal regime” of the Taliban in the eyes of the Afghan people – will be focused on eliminating the vices of drugs, alcohol, and crime.  President Hamid Karzai has tried to assure the public that it will not be a rebirth of the old program that so affected the lives of women, but we have to ask, why give it a rebirth at all? At best, it seems like bad public relations to revive an agency that violated human rights in the past to simply enforce drug and alcohol laws today. 

But considering reports that the Ministry is making a comeback at the urging of ultra-conservative religious leaders, groups like Human Rights Watch are concerned that there might be more waiting in the wings than just simple law enforcement measures.  This is definitely one to watch for its effect on women’s rights, which so many of us have hoped for in Afghanistan.