Life Under the Taliban: How Women’s Rights Have Deteriorated Since the Taliban Took Control
By: Sylvie Sussman
February 26, 2025
In 2021, the United States left Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of occupation.This withdrawal allowed the Taliban to return to power, imposing a harsh interpretation of Sharia law and rolling back women’s rights. The Taliban has been unreceptive to exterior pressure on women’s rights, and has continued to deepen the divide between men and women in the years since their return to power. Afghan women and UN officials have called it a “gender apartheid.” International organizations and civil society need to put pressure on the Taliban to improve women’s rights.
Since 2021, the Taliban has issued over 120 decrees and directives directly targeting women. Women are banned from education, most professions, and public spaces such as parks, gyms, and sports clubs. Women cannot even travel short distances without a male guardian, and it is dangerous for a woman to travel by herself due to the threat of harassment or interrogation by the Taliban.
Education is one of the areas that is likely to have the greatest impact on women and the Afghan population in the coming years. Although girls are still allowed in primary schools, nearly 30% of young girls do not go to primary school due to social norms and safety concerns. In April 2023, 80% of young girls and women were not in school. These restrictions prohibit 1.4 million girls and women from attending school, and make Afghanistan the only country in the world to prohibit education for girls above age 12. UN Women predicts that this will increase early childbearing by 45% and maternal mortality by 50%, in addition to a USD 9.6 billion drop in GDP by 2066 if women are not allowed to return to higher education.
In addition to restricting essentials like education, the Taliban has made it nearly impossible for a woman to even speak or be seen in public. In August 2024, they introduced “Vice and Virtue” laws, banning women from showing their faces or speaking in public, and rendering women isolated in the world outside of their home. Additional actions taken against women by the Taliban include establishing a female moral police department, invalidating thousands of divorce cases decided during the Afghan republic, and banning women from working for international NGOs.
The international community has taken steps to help women in Afghanistan, but it is not enough. In September 2024, Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands announced the initiation of proceedings to bring Afghanistan and the Taliban to the International Court of Justice for violations of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In November 2024, the United Nations’ Sixth Committee approved a draft resolution regarding crimes against humanity that advanced discussions to include gender apartheid in the Crimes Against Humanity treaty. Most recently, the International Criminal Court announced arrest warrants for the Supreme Leader and the Chief Justice of the Taliban, with more to follow. However, international proceedings can take years, and Afghan women will continue to suffer. The international diplomatic community must leverage humanitarian aid, sanctions, and the recognition of the Taliban's legitimacy to advocate for and support women's rights. Most importantly, civil society needs to continue to speak about Afghan women. Afghan women have been silenced, shunned, and punished, simply for being women. Those of us who have voices need to use them to speak up on their behalf. Afghan women will continue their resistance, silently, but the international community needs to continue their resistance loudly and publicly. If international organizations and civil society work together to put pressure on the Taliban, we can change the lives of Afghan women and women around the world, and ensure no woman has to face this kind of treatment again.