Four Years On: Afghan Women Face Deepening Rights Crisis Under Taliban Rule

The long-term consequences are alarming: experts warn of rising child marriage, increased early childbearing, and a dramatic rise in maternal mortality.

Four years after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Afghan women and girls remain at the epicenter of what the United Nations describes as the most severe women’s rights crisis in the world. A relentless series of decrees and directives have stripped women of their rights to education, work, freedom of movement, and participation in public life—systematically erasing their presence from Afghan society.

The Education Ban: A Generation Left Behind

Perhaps the most devastating blow has been the ban on girls’ secondary and higher education. Girls as young as 13 are barred from continuing to secondary school, while women are prohibited from attending universities. As a result, nearly 80 per cent of Afghan women aged 18–29 are now excluded from education, employment, or training.

The long-term consequences are alarming: experts warn of rising child marriage, increased early childbearing, and a dramatic rise in maternal mortality. By 2026, projections estimate child marriage could increase by 25 per cent and adolescent pregnancies by 45 per cent, while maternal deaths may rise by over 50 per cent.

A Shrinking Workforce and Worsening Economic Exclusion

Afghanistan now has one of the widest workforce gender gaps globally. Just one in four Afghan women is employed or seeking work, compared to nearly 90 per cent of men. This exclusion is not coincidental; it is the result of sweeping Taliban bans on women working in government institutions, NGOs, civil society organizations, and even the private sector, including the closure of beauty salons that once provided livelihoods for thousands of women.

This economic exclusion deepens household poverty, reduces national productivity, and widens inequality. For women who remain employed—often in informal, unregulated work—the risks of exploitation and harassment are severe.

Health and Mental Well-being Under Siege

The collapse of education and employment opportunities has fueled a worsening health crisis. Adolescent pregnancies and child marriages are rising, healthcare access has deteriorated, and women report unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Mental health support remains scarce, particularly after the dismantling of institutions once tasked with supporting women’s health and rights.

Political and Social Erasure

Afghan women are now entirely excluded from governance and decision-making. The Taliban’s cabinet is composed solely of men, and women have been deliberately barred from leadership roles at every administrative level. Political exclusion is compounded by restrictions on public life: women are banned from parks, gyms, and sports clubs, cutting them off from spaces of recreation, expression, and community.

Rising Violence and Insecurity

Reports suggest gender-based violence has significantly worsened since 2021, even though reliable nationwide data is impossible to collect. Formal support structures—including the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and laws addressing violence against women—have been dismantled.

Even though the armed conflict has formally ended, Afghan women consistently report that they do not feel safe. Instead, a gendered climate of fear prevails, reinforced by the Taliban’s “morality law,” introduced in August 2024. This law, enforced by more than 3,300 male officials, codifies restrictions on women’s freedoms, such as prohibiting them from speaking in public. Families, under pressure, are increasingly enforcing these restrictions themselves.

Refugee Returns Worsen the Crisis

The crisis is compounded by mass returns of Afghan refugees. In 2025 alone, more than 1.7 million Afghans returned from Iran and Pakistan, many forcibly. Women and girls—representing a significant share of returnees—face heightened risks of poverty, early marriage, violence, and exploitation, particularly in communities already struggling with scarce resources.

Civil Society Under Threat

Afghan women-led organizations, once lifelines for communities, are collapsing under the weight of global aid cuts. Nearly 40 per cent of organizations surveyed by the UN in March 2025 reported suspending all donor-dependent projects. This loss undermines efforts to document abuses, provide services, and sustain networks of solidarity that are vital for women’s survival and empowerment.

Resilience Amid Oppression

Despite these systemic restrictions, Afghan women continue to resist erasure. They run underground schools, operate small businesses, deliver humanitarian aid, and document human rights violations at great personal risk. These acts of resilience are powerful reminders that, even under extraordinary oppression, Afghan women have not given up—and they demand that the world does not give up on them either.

A Call for Global Responsibility

The international community faces a pivotal question: will the systematic oppression of Afghan women be normalized, or will the world stand in solidarity to defend their rights? UN agencies and rights organizations are urging governments to:

• Demand accountability for the Taliban’s gender-based persecution.

• Increase funding for women-led organizations and humanitarian aid.

• Guarantee Afghan women’s voices are represented in international negotiations and policy frameworks.

As the global community marks this grim four-year milestone, Afghan women continue to show resilience against erasure. Their courage is a call to action: the world must not remain silent in the face of gender apartheid.