Taliban impose mahram requirement for women visiting health centres in Kandahar

Local sources report that the Taliban administration in Kandahar has implemented a new rule barring women from visiting health centers without a mahram—a male family companion. The rule, now enforced across both the city and district health centers, requires women to be accompanied by a male relative, or they are turned away by Taliban-appointed ombudsmen stationed at the facilities.

According to sources, the Taliban’s "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" officials have instructed health centers in Kandahar to strictly enforce this regulation, with women arriving unaccompanied by a immediat male family member being advised not to return alone and, in most cases, sent back home without care. This policy has reportedly created additional hardships for homeless women and others lacking reliable family support.

In a further restriction, the Taliban officials have mandated that even the transport of deceased female patients to hospitals must involve a male family companion. To ensure compliance, each health center in the province now has an official from the Amr-e-Maruf wa Nahi-e-Munkar administration assigned to monitor and enforce the rule.

The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice has recently passed new regulations under the guidance of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, imposing multiple restrictions that heavily impact women’s access to public services. Despite mounting concerns about the growing limitations on women’s rights and health access in Afghanistan, the Taliban administration has yet to issue an official statement on these new health center restrictions.