Many Afghan women still suffer the same abuse as under the ousted Taliban and in some regions face increasing harassment, a human rights group said today.
In a 52-page report, We Want to Live as Humans, Human Rights Watch singled out warlord Mr Ismail Khan in the city of Herat for bundling women back into the all-enveloping burka and forcing them to undergo "chastity checks".
Many people outside the country believe that Afghan women and girls have had their rights restored when the Taliban was removed from power a year ago, said Zama Coursen-Neff, co-author of the report.
"It's just not true. Women and girls are still being abused, harassed and threatened all over Afghanistan, often by government troops and officials," she said in the report.
But the New York-based human rights group concedes conditions for women have improved and they are allowed to go to school and to work. But in many areas they suffer serious restrictions by government troops and local officials, who invoke vague "Taliban-era" edicts on dress and behaviour.
Mr Khan, the governor of Herat, who has received US financial and military help, was named as the most flagrant abuser, inventing a series of draconian measures.
Among them is a religious police and a "youth police" to haul women and girls to hospitals for gynecological examinations for the purpose of "chastity checks."