Five years after Taliban takeover, Afghan women ‘erased from public life’
12 August 2026
Human RightsFive years after the Taliban seized power, women and girls in Afghanistan have been systematically stripped of their rights, UN agencies said on Wednesday. De facto authorities have issued more than 100 decrees curbing education, work and freedom of movement – restrictions now compounded by deep cuts to aid on the ground.
Key pointsThe Talban have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, including one that’s left 2.4 million girls excluded from secondary educationUnprecedented restrictions have triggered a mental health crisisUN culture agency, UNESCO, calls for the full restoration of the right to educationIn the past year alone, this exclusion of women and girls from education, employment, public life, justice systems and healthcare has only intensified, entrenching what remains the “world’s most severe women’s rights crisis”, the organization’s gender equality agency UN Women said.‘Devastating’ impact“The results are devastating,” the agency added, stressing that shorter life expectancy, higher risks of maternal death, child marriage and gender-based violence alongside the loss of education, work and freedom of movement have also triggered a mental health crisis.Over the past five years, restrictive decrees targeting women and girls have institutionalised discrimination and stripped them of their fundamental rights, with profound consequences for their lives and communities, according to new UN Women data.Read the full report here.Shut inHalf of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month because of the severe restrictions on their movement and access to public spaces, according to UN Women.In addition, more women are also reporting feeling unsafe leaving home without a male guardian.“This unparalleled crisis of women’s and girls’ rights is at risk of being forgotten by the world,” the agency said.
