Four years after the Taliban returned to power, a new report unveiled in the British House of Lords warns of the spread of fear, coercive surveillance and extremism in Afghanistan. The research, prepared by the Faragir organization, was based on interviews with 700 citizens, especially women, in 14 Afghan provinces.

The report states that the Taliban have made restrictions on women a key tool of political and social control. Researchers say that with the implementation of the “Enjoining Virtue and Forbidding Vice” law, women have been widely monitored by the “moral police” and in some cases have been arrested or beaten.

The report also reports a significant increase in religious schools; so that there are now nearly 23,000 religious schools with more than three million students operating in Afghanistan.

Based on the findings, 61 percent of respondents do not feel safe and 62 percent said they have faced direct threats or insecurity since the Taliban’s return.

Meeting participants warned that continued repression of women and the spread of extremism could have consequences beyond Afghanistan.