The United Nations is sending a rights team to western Afghanistan to discuss restrictions on women's education by a provincial government.
Rules announced recently by the conservative governor of Herat province, Mr Ismail Khan, forbid the teaching of women by men and the holding of classes for women if men are being taught in the same building.
UN spokesman Mr Manoel de Almeida e Silva said a team led by Mr Goran Feijic, a senior adviser on human rights for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), would start a visit to Herat today and hold talks with provincial authorities.
The spokesman said the new rules had apparently yet to be implemented but threatened the right of women to education and the right of teachers to work.
Strict interpretations of Islamic law were relaxed in many parts of Afghanistan after the Taliban's demise, and music, television and cinema have made a comeback in most parts of the country, including in Herat.
But last year Mr Khan banned wedding parties in city restaurants after Herat's Religious Council called the practice un-Islamic, since men and women mingled and sometimes danced together.
Mr Khan lifted the ban briefly after a bride burned herself to death in protest, but later reimposed the rule. He has also banned women from going to parks at night or driving in the same car as a man who is not a close relative.
Human Rights Watch has accused Mr Khan of persecuting and detaining opponents. Mr Khan rejects the charges.