There’s a nascent women’s movement in Herat called “Education, Work and Freedom” and it is being supported by the men.

It’s part of something that is happening in Afghanistan that did not really make the news. A few days ago, the Taliban arrested multiple women in Herat for not dressing properly, ie not wearing a burqa. They also picked up a number of women at a gynecology clinic for not being with a male relative.

Through a colleague, we’ve been trying to reach residents in Herat to get a better understanding of what is going on. In this video you can hear people chanting “Education, Work and Freedom” in the video. Its being called Herat’s women’s movement and if you look at the video you will see how widely it is being supported by men.

Women were carrying out a small protest, but following the Taliban arrests, the men of Herat began to join them in large numbers. They started fighting with the Taliban who then opened fire and injured at least three. (There are reports that two were killed).

In a voice note, one resident of Herat said that after the governor returned from a recent visit to the most senior Taliban leadership local authorities began cracking down on women for their clothing and men for the length of their beards.

I found an article published back in 2022 shortly after the Taliban took over that published commentary from women across all of Afghanistan’s provinces regarding how they think the orders in clothing requirements will impact them. In it a young woman from Herat is saying “Herati people are very sensitive in what they will adapt to. The current clothing style is considered hijab in Herat, so no one can force us to change it.”

Women in Herat wear what’s known as the “Herati hijab”, the style varies, but is generally a long coat or abaya with a scarf; burqa’s are rare.

One person said that women in Herat say that what it is the burqa that is un-Islamic and that they cannot be forced to wear something that is un-Islamic.

I was incidentally in Herat back in March, the market and streets were bustling. I remember commenting to my colleague on how much more vibrant it felt when compared to Kabul, how many more women were out and about. But things were changing. We spoke to our tuktuk driver who had said that up until a few months earlier the local Taliban leadership was allowing girls to go to school after the sixth grade.

His voice cracked as he spoke about how hard it was for him to see his daughter cry about missing out on her education and how he felt like a failure as a father because he was unable to even provide her with that.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this. Maybe it is the call for “Education, Work and Freedom” in Herat that starts something bigger.