Taliban's Virtue and Vice Ministry: 35 Articles of Formal Restriction

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: Taliban Celebrations Kabul - Callum Darragh

In August 2024, the Taliban signed a new law that changed everything for people in Afghanistan. The Taliban virtue vice ministry — officially the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV) — now enforces 35 articles that control every part of daily life. This law covers what people wear, how they speak, what music they listen to, and how women move in public. It is not a set of guidelines. It is a formal legal code with punishments. For anyone working on asylum claims involving Afghan nationals, understanding this law is essential.[1]

The law gives the Taliban's morality police the power to stop, question, detain, and punish anyone. There is no court review. There is no right to appeal. The expert witnesses who assess Afghan cases must understand exactly what these 35 articles say and how they are enforced on the ground.

What Is the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice?

The MPVPV is not new. The Taliban created it during their first rule in the 1990s. At that time, morality police patrolled the streets of Kabul with whips and sticks. They beat women who showed their ankles. They destroyed televisions and music cassettes. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they quickly re-established the ministry.[2]

Today, the MPVPV operates in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has more than 15,000 staff members. These include morality inspectors, patrol officers, and informants. The ministry has its own detention centres. It answers directly to the Taliban supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who lives in Kandahar. No other government body can overrule the MPVPV's decisions.[3]

The ministry's structure is simple but effective. Each province has a director of virtue and vice. Each district has an office with patrol teams. These teams go to markets, schools, hospitals, and homes. They check whether people follow the rules. They also receive complaints from neighbours and informants. In practice, anyone can report anyone else for a "moral violation."

The Law on Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice

On 21 August 2024, the Taliban supreme leader signed the Law on Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. This law has 35 articles. It is the first time the Taliban have put their moral code into a formal legal document. Before this law, enforcement was based on verbal orders and local interpretation. Now, it is written down and applies across the entire country.[4]

The law covers a very wide range of behaviour. It regulates clothing, travel, speech, music, photography, prayer, beards, and interactions between men and women. Some articles apply only to women. Others apply to everyone. The punishments range from a verbal warning to imprisonment. However, the law does not set clear limits on how long someone can be detained. This means, in practice, that morality police can hold people for as long as they want.

The law also gives the MPVPV the power to enter private homes. If the ministry receives a report that someone is playing music or watching television, officers can enter the home to investigate. There is no requirement for a warrant. There is no judge involved. This is a key point for human rights assessments of Afghanistan.

Key Articles Explained

Article 13: Women's Voices and Covering

Article 13 is one of the most extreme provisions. It states that a woman's voice is "awrah" — meaning it must be hidden in public. Women must not speak loudly outside their homes. They must not sing. They must not read aloud. In addition, women must cover their entire body, including their face, when they leave home. Only their eyes may be visible, and some local enforcers require even the eyes to be covered with a mesh screen.[5]

Article 17: Male Guardian for Travel

Article 17 requires every woman to have a "mahram" — a close male relative — with her when she travels. A woman cannot travel more than 78 kilometres without a mahram. In practice, many enforcers apply this rule to any travel outside the home, even short distances. Women who are found alone in taxis or on buses can be detained and their families can be punished.[6]

Article 19: Ban on Music and Photography

Article 19 bans music in public and in vehicles. It also bans the photography and filming of living things — people and animals. Drivers who play music in their cars can have their vehicles seized. Shop owners who sell music or have photographs on display can be closed down. Mobile phones are checked at checkpoints, and any music files or photos of people found on them can lead to detention.[7]

Article 25: Mandatory Beards for Men

Article 25 requires all men to grow beards. The beard must be at least one fist length. Men who shave or trim their beards too short face escalating punishments. The morality police carry rulers to check beard length. This may sound unusual, but for many Afghan men — especially young men in cities like Kabul and Herat — this rule has a real impact on their daily lives and employment.

Article 28: Mandatory Prayer

Article 28 makes it compulsory to pray five times a day. During prayer times, all shops must close. All people must go to a mosque. The morality police patrol streets during prayer times and detain anyone who is not in a mosque. Shop owners who stay open during prayer face fines and closure of their business.[8]

Table of Key Articles and Restrictions

How the Law Is Enforced

Enforcement follows a simple pattern. First, the morality police give a verbal warning. Second, they give a written warning. Third, they impose a fine. Fourth, they detain the person. Fifth, they imprison the person. However, the law does not say how long each step must last. In many cases, the morality police skip straight to detention. There is no judge to review the decision. There is no lawyer present. The MPVPV acts as police, prosecutor, and judge all at once.[10]

In practice, enforcement is also arbitrary. It depends on the local commander. In some districts, the morality police are strict about every rule. In others, they focus on a few key issues — usually women's covering and beard length. This unpredictability makes life very difficult. People never know which rule will be enforced on any given day.

The ministry also uses informants. Neighbours report on each other. Family members report on each other. Shopkeepers report on their customers. This creates a climate of fear that goes far beyond the presence of uniformed morality police. As a result, self-censorship is widespread. People stop listening to music at home because they fear their neighbours will report them.

The Taliban's new morality law is a comprehensive attack on the human rights of all Afghans, and especially on women and girls who have been progressively erased from public life.
Volker Turk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, September 2024

Impact on Daily Life

The 35 articles affect every moment of daily life in Afghanistan. Consider a typical day. A man wakes up and must ensure his beard is the correct length before going outside. He cannot listen to music on his way to work. He must close his shop during each of the five prayer times. He cannot have photos of his family on his phone. If he drives a taxi, he must check that no woman passenger is travelling without a mahram.[12]

For women, the restrictions are even more severe. A woman cannot leave her home without full body covering and a mahram. She cannot work. She cannot go to secondary school or university. She cannot speak loudly in public. She cannot go to a park — the Taliban banned women from parks in 2022. She effectively does not exist in public space. The UN has described this as "gender apartheid."[13]

Children are also affected. Boys must attend religious schools. Girls above age 12 cannot attend school at all. Children's toys with images of faces are banned in some areas. Kite flying, once a beloved Afghan tradition, is banned. The impact on mental health is severe. A 2024 WHO survey found that 80% of Afghan women reported symptoms of depression or anxiety.[14]

Implications for Asylum Claims

The August 2024 law has direct implications for asylum claims involving Afghan nationals. The law applies to every person in Afghanistan. However, some groups face higher risk. Women face the most severe restrictions — the combination of Articles 13, 14, and 17 effectively removes women from public life entirely. For this reason, many decision-makers now accept that Afghan women face persecution simply because they are women.[15]

Men also face genuine risk of persecution. Young men who have lived in Western countries may not be able to comply with beard requirements, prayer requirements, and the ban on music and photography. Former government workers, journalists, and anyone who has worked with international organizations are at particular risk. The MPVPV views these people as having been corrupted by Western values.

For country report purposes, the law demonstrates that the Taliban's restrictions are not informal or temporary. They are now formal, written, and legally binding across the entire country. This makes it very difficult to argue that internal relocation is possible. The law applies everywhere in Afghanistan. There is no safe province. Every district has an MPVPV office.

An expert witness can explain the specific articles that apply to an individual claimant's situation. For example, a musician would face persecution under Article 19. A woman who worked for an NGO would face persecution under Articles 13 and 14. A man who refuses to grow a beard for medical reasons would face persecution under Article 25.

Conclusion

The Taliban virtue vice ministry has turned moral rules into formal law. The 35 articles of the Law on Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice control every aspect of life in Afghanistan. The MPVPV enforces these rules with more than 15,000 officers across all 34 provinces. There is no court review, no right to appeal, and no limit on detention. For asylum decision-makers and legal representatives, this law is clear evidence that the Taliban's restrictions are systematic, nationwide, and formally codified. It is one of the most complete systems of social control anywhere in the world today.