UN warns situation for women, girls in Afghanistan increasingly ‘untenable’

KABUL (Amu tv): UN Women has warned that life for women and girls in Afghanistan has become increasingly unbearable and that without urgent action, this “untenable reality” risks becoming normalized, leaving women fully excluded from society.

“The Taliban is closer than ever to achieving its vision of a society that completely erases women from public life,” the UN gender equality agency said in a statement Tuesday about four years of Taliban in power.

The warning came as the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its latest human rights report covering May to July, which details the tightening enforcement of restrictions against women and threats against female humanitarian workers.

Taliban edicts restricting women’s rights — including bans on secondary and higher education, as well as requirements for women to be accompanied by a male guardian (mahram) in public — combine to create what UN Women calls an “inescapable cycle” that forces women into private spaces and increases their vulnerability.

In some provinces, Taliban authorities have ordered businesses and health clinics to deny services to unaccompanied women, and in places like Herat, women without full-body coverings such as a “Chadari” or burqa are barred from public areas.

The impact is far-reaching. UN Women says 78% of Afghan women are now not in education, employment or training, severely shrinking the workforce in a country already crippled by sanctions and climate shocks. The agency warns these restrictions also threaten lives: banning women from higher education means fewer female doctors, while bans on treatment from male doctors in some regions mean less access to care — factors UN Women estimates could drive maternal mortality up by 50% by 2026.

UNAMA’s report also documents rising child marriage, domestic and public violence against women, and even cases where Taliban authorities enforced forced marriages. Meanwhile, 62% of women say they have no influence over decisions in their own households.

Despite the restrictions and threats — including explicit death threats against some women working for the UN in May — Afghan women continue to show resilience, the agency says, finding small ways to support each other and keep hope alive.

Since 2021, the Taliban has issued nearly 100 edicts restricting women and girls’ movements, dress, work and education. None have been repealed.

“This is not only about the rights – and futures – of Afghan women and girls,” said Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s representative in Afghanistan. “If we allow Afghan women and girls to be silenced, we send a message that the rights of women and girls everywhere are disposable. And that’s an immensely dangerous precedent.”