An AW investigation into enforcement across institutions, provinces, and restriction types
Executive summary
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, numerous restrictions have been imposed on women and the media. Although these restrictions have been well documented, less attention has been given to their practical implementation and thereasons behind the variability in their implementation across Afghanistan. Drawing on Afghan Witness’s (AW) monitoring of restrictions and implementation-related incidents from January 2022 to April 2026, this report examines not only the restrictions themselves but also their issuance, implementation, and enforcement.
A key finding of the report is that variation in implementation should not necessarily be interpreted as inconsistent Taliban policy. Rather, AW’s analysis suggests that it reflects a governance system in which nationally issued restrictions are implemented through multiple institutions operating at both national and provincial levels. While implementation varies across Afghanistan, it appears to stem from differences in governance structures, institutional arrangements, provincial leadership, local dynamics, and reporting environments, rather than from inconsistencies in national policy.
AW identified a broad and evolving framework of restrictions concerning women and the media. Restrictions on women affect almost all areas of public life, including education, employment, healthcare, freedom of movement, and civic participation. Restrictions on the media are more narrowly focused on regulating the information environment through censorship, controls on reporting, and restrictions affecting journalists and media organisations. Across both domains, restrictions are introduced through a combination of laws, decrees, directives, and verbal instructions, before being implemented by ministries, provincial authorities, and public institutions, and enforced through a range of regulatory and coercive measures.
The report also finds important differences in how restrictions on women and the media are implemented. Restrictions on women are issued by a broad range of ministries and authorities, implemented through provincial departments, public institutions, and other administrative actors, and enforced primarily by provincial departments of the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV), alongside other ministries and local authorities.
Media restrictions are primarily issued by the Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC), the MPVPV, the Supreme Leader and, in some cases, provincial authorities. Their implementation relies on provincial departments, media organisations, and other administrative actors. At the same time, enforcement is closely associated with the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), provincial authorities, and, increasingly, the MPVPV following the adoption of the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) Law.
Implementation is not uniform across Afghanistan. Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat consistently record comparatively high numbers of reported implementation- and enforcement-related incidents across both domains. While stronger reporting environments likely contribute to this pattern, AW’s analysis suggests that governance structures, institutional presence, provincial leadership, and local dynamics also influence the implementation of restrictions. Across both domains, responsibilities for issuing, implementing, and enforcing restrictions frequently overlap, contributing to variation in how nationally issued restrictions are applied in practice.
Overall, the report demonstrates that examining implementation provides a more complete understanding of the de facto authorities’ governance than examining policy alone. Rather than viewing implementation as the uniform application of nationally issued restrictions, the findings show how those restrictions are translated into practice through multiple institutions operating within different provincial contexts. This provides new insight into how the Taliban de facto authorities exercise authority across Afghanistan while pursuing broadly consistent national policy objectives