AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon
- The Taliban's "moral police" enforce its interpretation of Sharia law.
- Although it is still unclear if they will be allowed to work, women in Afghanistan can no longer work alongside men.
- Women can continue studying at universities in Islamic dress and segregated classrooms.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Women who were employed by Afghanistan's women's ministry were locked out of their former workplace in Kabul on Thursday. The next day its signs had been replaced with those of the Taliban's moral police: "Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice," Reuters reported.
The new ministry enforces the Taliban's interpretation of Sharia law, which enforces a strict dress code, floggings, and public executions, according to Reuters. Although a senior Taliban figure said women shall not work alongside men on September 13, it is still unclear what capacity women will be able to work, if at all, Reuters reported.
Earlier in the week, Taliban officials said that women will be allowed to continue their studies at universities as long as they wear Islamic dress and classrooms are segregated by gender.
The group took control of the country in mid-August after taking over several major cities during the withdrawal of US military troops by President Joe Biden.
The Taliban's interim government is comprised entirely of men, including a prime minister on a United Nations blacklist and the head of a militant group wanted by the FBI.