Afghan girls attend school in Herat, Afghanistan (2019) | Solmaz Daryani / Shutterstock
After the Taliban banned girls and women from studying beyond the sixth grade, in 2021, one avenue for education remained open: medical institutions, where they could train to become nurses, midwives, and pharmacists. However, in December 2024, Taliban officials announced that female students would now be barred from attending medical institutions as well—“until further notice.” This move effectively shut down any opportunity for women to pursue higher education and the training of female health care workers.
Afghanistan is already suffering from a severe healthcare crisis, with shortages of qualified medical professionals, especially female medics. Furthermore, previous Taliban edicts have restricted women’s access to healthcare by preventing them from traveling without a close male guardian and prohibiting male doctors from treating female patients. Most female medical staff left the country when the Taliban regime took control of the Afghan government, while the few remaining female doctors are required to travel to their hospitals and clinics in the company of a male chaperone. By stripping a generation of women of the opportunity for formal medical education, the Taliban has paved the way for an impending collapse of women’s healthcare services, putting millions of lives at risk, in a country where the maternal and child mortality rates are already high.
The Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan has been marked by a relentless and systematic assault on women’s rights. Since taking control in August 2021, the group has issued over 100 edicts, restricting every aspect of women’s lives, from education to employment to healthcare, as well as movement and public presence. These policies are not simply restrictions; they represent a systematic effort designed to erase women’s personhood and reduce their participation in society to subservience within the home.
These restrictions have profound consequences for women and girls. They also affect Afghan society as a whole, crippling economic growth, dismantling healthcare infrastructure, and erasing women’s crucial contributions to public life.
In December 2022, the Taliban banned women from working with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), citing noncompliance with the regime’s dress code. This move severely impacted humanitarian aid efforts in Afghanistan, as women are crucial to the delivery of life-saving services, particularly to other women and children. Because women employed by NGOs were also often the main breadwinners of their families, the ban worsened poverty at a time when unemployment was already at its highest. International aid organizations, including the United Nations, have warned that the restriction exacerbates the country’s already dire humanitarian crisis, leaving millions without food, healthcare, and support, and particularly affects the ability of women-headed households to receive live-saving relief.
In another brazen move, in August 2024, the Taliban enforced further restrictions on Afghan women’s dress. The law, reportedly authored by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, mandates that Afghan women must fully cover their bodies and faces in public spaces, avoid any form of tight clothing, and wear garments that entirely conceal their body shape. The dress code edict builds on previous restrictions that had already eliminated women’s right to free movement. Previous edicts include Afghan women being banned from traveling long distances without a male guardian (mahram), leaving women without such a figure in their life facing significant obstacles—even when seeking healthcare.
The Taliban has attempted to justify their draconian policies by claiming they align with Islamic principles, but this narrative fails to hold up under scrutiny. Islamic teachings emphasize equal dignity, equality, justice, and education for all, regardless of gender. Muslim scholars worldwide have repeatedly rejected the Taliban’s ideology, highlighting that their actions represent a deliberate distortion of Islam, driven by political rather than religious doctrine.
Recently, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convened a conference where Islamic scholars from 52 countries urged the Taliban to reverse their restrictive edicts. The scholars emphasized that the Taliban’s policies directly contradict Islamic teachings and called for the restoration of women’s rights, particularly in education and public life. In multiple statements, religious leaders from around the world have condemned the Taliban’s actions as a perversion of Islam that is rooted in grabbing and holding onto power rather than upholding faith.
The Afghan people, particularly Afghan women, reject the Taliban’s attempts to frame their oppressive practices as religious or cultural. Women continue to resist and speak out, highlighting their history and asserting their right to education, employment, and personal freedom—rights demanded by Islam, history, and humanity.
Afghan women have protested this oppression in the streets. Some have refused to obey the dress code restrictions. They have suffered arrest and torture for their resistance. Their resilience in the face of overwhelming adversity is a testament to their strength and determination. However, they cannot achieve the change they desire—to be treated as equal humans with access to all opportunities and freedoms—without help.
The Taliban’s systematic efforts to erase women from Afghan society are gender apartheid. Women’s rights are human rights: The global community, Islamic scholars, and human rights organizations must maintain pressure on the Taliban to reverse these edicts and restore the fundamental rights and voice of Afghan women and girls.
The future of Afghanistan depends on the participation of all its citizens, not just half of them. The Taliban’s relentless assault on women’s rights has far-reaching consequences for the entire country, the region, and the world. Any acceptance of the Taliban regime by the international community empowers and inspires global patriarchy, undermines international human rights and humanitarian law, and normalizes the human rights violations we now see rising in other extremist governments that restrict women’s freedom.
The International Criminal Court’s recent attempts to seek arrest warrants for two top Taliban leaders for gender prosecution is a start. The international community cannot stand by as Afghanistan descends further into a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe.
