Women and girls in Afghanistan have been systematically stripped of their fundamental rights since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, according to a new report by the United Nations.
The UN said more than 100 decrees and directives targeting women and girls have restricted their access to education, employment, freedom of movement and public life, describing the measures as “institutionalised discrimination.”
UN Women said the exclusion of women and girls from schools, workplaces, public institutions, justice systems and healthcare has intensified since 2025, worsening what it described as the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis.
The agency warned that the restrictions have contributed to a broader humanitarian and mental health crisis, alongside shorter life expectancy, increased maternal mortality risks, child marriage and gender-based violence.
According to findings from interviews conducted by the UN, half of the women surveyed said they leave their homes only once or twice a month. Many also reported feeling unsafe outside their homes without a male guardian.
The restrictions have also severely affected access to education. UNESCO estimates that, as of 2026, about 2.4 million girls remain excluded from secondary education, reversing decades of progress in expanding educational opportunities for Afghan women and girls.
UNESCO said Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls and women are formally prohibited from accessing education beyond the primary level.
The agency warned that the policy violates the fundamental right to education and could condemn Afghanistan to decades of lost potential, deeper poverty and irreversible social and economic damage.
In a separate report, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented continuing human rights violations, arbitrary detention and discrimination against women and girls under Taliban rule.
UNAMA also raised concerns over the lack of publicly available information regarding investigations into alleged human rights abuses and efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.
As part of the Taliban’s implementation of its interpretation of Sharia law, authorities established the Security and Filtration Commission and the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, while the previous constitutional framework has effectively been replaced.
UNAMA urged the Afghan authorities to strengthen accountability across all security institutions by establishing clear rules, procedures and codes of conduct that comply with international human rights standards.
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