The severe humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where nearly half of the population requires assistance, has pushed many families into survival mode. Hunger, joblessness and collapsing services have tightened dependence within Afghan households.
At the same time, wide-ranging restrictions imposed by the Taliban rulers since their return to power in 2021 have narrowed women's options in public life, limiting access to work, education and mobility.
Together, these pressures make violence against women in the private sphere harder to escape, more difficult to report and easier to conceal.
Forced marriage and dependency
Women's rights advocates and local journalists describe a pattern: Economic desperation drives forced and early marriages, increases women's dependence on husbands or in-laws, and makes domestic abuse less visible.
