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Much to the dismay of many countries in the world, the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan has officially enacted a novel set of morality and vice laws, which, in fact, explicitly allow husbands to beat their wives and children as long as the punishment does not involve broken bones, permanent injury, or open marks that do not last longer than three days.

The 114-article policy Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was quietly gazetted and published in the middle of February 2026, but much of what it provides had already been informally implemented since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Article 53 of the new law states:

The husband has a right to discipline his wife if she becomes disobedient (nushuz) by advising, separating sleeping facilities, and setting light penalties, though such penalties should not make her bones break or cause any permanent lesions or any signs not to be erased within three days.

The same provision is replicated for parents who are punishing children. The law also prohibits women from speaking loudly, exposing their faces (niqab to reveal the eyes), reading the book aloud, and reciting the Quran with the voice, as well as the use of cosmetics that may be considered attractive.

The Taliban has the Ministry of the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the morality police) to implement these regulations, such as searches of homes without warrants once the Taliban suspects that there is immoral activity. Now females must have a male guardian (mahram) to accompany them when traveling over 78 km, and they cannot hear a female voice on the radio or television.

The reaction of human rights organizations and foreign governments was very rapid:

• The UN Human Rights Office termed the law as an institutionalization of gender apartheid.
• It was what Amnesty International termed as state-sanctioned domestic violence.
• A spokesperson of the US State Department stated, "This is not Islamic law; this is Taliban tyranny in the name of religion."
• A number of European nations and Canada declared new specific sanctions against the Taliban officials who took part in drafting or implementing the law.

Back in Afghanistan, there is a growing movement of women's rights activists (who are already working undercover) who said that the law was the last nail on the coffin of public life of women in Afghanistan. BBC Persian also reported a statement by one of the anonymous activists in Kabul:

They are legalizing abuse and terming it as discipline. When a man hits his wife and does not break a single bone, the state is now on the side of him rather than her.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid justified the law by stating that he is upholding the Sharia law and the Afghan tradition where family upholds their honor. He refuted all international criticism as Western propaganda.

Since Afghanistan reaches almost 4.5 years of Taliban government, many observers interpret the new morality law as the most detailed and overt reversal of female rights since 2021—and the policy of a person against the woman as a state policy.