UN Report Highlights Severe Restrictions on Afghan Women

A UN Women report indicates that half of Afghan women rarely leave their homes as the Taliban deepen restrictions on the female population. According to the agency, Afghanistan is the only country in the world to ban girls from secondary education and women from attending university. The report states that the Taliban have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls since returning to power in 2021, which has institutionalized discrimination and created a severe mental health crisis. Seven in 10 women described their mental health as bad or very bad, citing isolation and limited access to support networks. Economic participation remains low, with only 7 percent of women employed compared to 84 percent of men. Additionally, recent measures have abolished legal equality between men and women and strengthened the authority of men within marriage. A spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice disputed these findings, stating that reports of women feeling unsafe are false and that the situation is moving in a positive direction. The Taliban maintain that they respect women's rights according to their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture. The UN agency based its findings on door to door and telephone surveys conducted between February 2025 and May 2026.