Editing Treatment of women by the Taliban

{{Short description|Gender policies, punishments of the Taliban}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2022}}
[[File:Daily Life in Afghanistan's Capital 29.jpg|thumb|Women wearing burqas at a market in [[Kabul]] in September 2021, one month after the [[Taliban]] [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|seized control for the second time]].]]
<!-- Article scope -->The '''treatment of women by the Taliban''' includes the actions and policies by two distinct [[Taliban]] regimes in [[Afghanistan]] which are either specific or highly commented upon, mostly due to discrimination, since they first took control in 1996.<!-- DO NOT BOLD, see [[WP:SBE]] for further guidance -->
<!-- Brief history -->
During their [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|first rule of Afghanistan]], the Taliban were notorious internationally for their [[misogyny]] and [[violence against women]].<ref name="Maley">{{Cite book |last=Dupree |first=Nancy Hatch |url= |title=Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban |publisher=New York University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-8147-5585-2 |editor-last=Maley |editor-first=William |location=New York |pages=145–166 |chapter=Afghan Women under the Taliban |author-link=Nancy Dupree |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalismre00male/page/145/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name="Marsden">{{Cite book |last=Marsden |first=Peter |title=The Taliban: War, Religion and the New Order in Afghanistan |publisher=Zed Books |year=1998 |isbn=1-85649-522-1 |location=London |pages=88–101 |chapter=The gender policies of the Taliban |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/talibanwarreligi0000mars/page/88/mode/2up}}</ref> In 1996, women were mandated to wear the [[burqa]] at all times in public.<ref name="Gohari">{{Cite book |last=Gohari |first=M. J. |title=The Taliban: Ascent to Power |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=0-19-579560-1 |location=Karachi |pages=108–110 |chapter=Women and the Taliban Rule |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/talibanascenttop00goha/page/108/mode/2up}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Franks |first=Mary Anne |year=2003 |title=Obscene Undersides: Women and Evil between the Taliban and the United States |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3811041 |journal=Hypatia |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=139–140 |doi=10.1111/j.1527-2001.2003.tb00783.x |jstor=3811041 |s2cid=145761320 |issn=0887-5367}}</ref> In a systematic segregation sometimes referred to as [[gender apartheid]], women were not allowed to work, nor were they allowed to be educated after the age of eight. Women seeking an education were forced to attend underground schools, where they and their teachers risked execution if caught.<ref name="Synovitz">{{Cite web |last=Synovitz |first=Ron |date=31 March 2004 |title=Afghanistan: Author Awaits Happy Ending To 'Sewing Circles Of Herat' |url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2004/03/176a7386-97d6-4f9b-bec7-b403f88633cc.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040708045554/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticleprint/2004/03/176a7386-97d6-4f9b-bec7-b403f88633cc.html |archive-date=8 July 2004 |access-date=17 August 2021 |website= |publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref><ref name="LambTimes">{{Cite news |last=Lamb |first=Christina |author-link=Christina Lamb |date=13 November 2005 |title=Woman poet 'slain for her verse' |work=The Sunday Times |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/woman-poet-slain-for-her-verse-70ng7rrqsk9 |url-status=live |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195800/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/woman-poet-slain-for-her-verse-70ng7rrqsk9 |archive-date=4 April 2019 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> They were not allowed to be treated by male doctors unless accompanied by a male [[Chaperone (social)|chaperone]], which led to illnesses remaining untreated. They faced public [[flogging]] and execution for violations of the Taliban's laws.<ref name="physicians">{{Cite book |url=https://phr.org/wp-content/uploads/1998/08/afghanistan-taliban-war-on-women-1998.pdf |title=The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan |publisher=Physicians for Human Rights |year=1998 |isbn=1-879707-25-X |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812221749/https://phr.org/wp-content/uploads/1998/08/afghanistan-taliban-war-on-women-1998.pdf |archive-date=12 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|12, 31–32}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 June 1998 |title=100 Girls' Schools in Afghan Capital Are Ordered Shut |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/17/world/100-girls-schools-in-afghan-capital-are-ordered-shut.html |url-status=live |access-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413225208/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/17/world/100-girls-schools-in-afghan-capital-are-ordered-shut.html |archive-date=13 April 2021}}</ref>

After [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|taking over Afghanistan for the second time]] in 2021, the Taliban initially granted women permission to attend universities, albeit in [[Single-sex education|gender segregated]] classrooms, on the condition that they followed "Islamic standards."<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=29 August 2021 |first=Matthew |last=Loh |title=Taliban rep says Afghan women can attend university, but mixed classes will be banned |url=https://www.insider.com/women-can-attend-university-mixed-classes-banned-taliban-education-minister-2021-8 |access-date=27 December 2022 |website=Insider |language=en-US}}</ref> However, they restricted access to education for teenage girls by allowing only boys to resume schooling. Additionally, they prohibited women in Afghanistan from working in most sectors beyond [[Health in Afghanistan|health]] and education.<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |title=Afghanistan: Taliban confirm secondary school ban for girls |work=Newsround |publisher=CBBC |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/59576128 |access-date=27 December 2022}}</ref><ref name=":9">{{Cite news |last=Hadid |first=Diaa |date=20 December 2022 |title='The Taliban took our last hope': College education is banned for women in Afghanistan |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/12/20/1144502320/the-taliban-took-our-last-hope-college-education-is-banned-for-women-in-afghanis |access-date=27 December 2022 |publisher=NPR}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite news|last=Trofimov|first=Yaroslav|author-link=Yaroslav Trofimov|date=15 August 2021|title=Afghanistan Government Collapses as Taliban Take Kabul|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghanistans-taliban-seize-jalalabad-as-panic-grips-kabul-11629005282|url-status=live|access-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817050210/https://www.wsj.com/articles/afghanistans-taliban-seize-jalalabad-as-panic-grips-kabul-11629005282|archive-date=17 August 2021}}</ref> Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls, despite the nation-wide ban.<ref name="amu.tv">{{Cite web |date=1 January 2023 |title=Afghanistan: Six provinces keep schools open for girls despite nationwide ban |url=https://amu.tv/en/30372/ |access-date=17 February 2023 |website=AmuTV}}</ref><ref name="Neda Safi">{{Cite web |last=Neda Safi |first=Tooba |date=17 February 2023 |title=Girls return to high school in some regions of Afghanistan |url=https://genevasolutions.news/explorations/dispatches-from-women-in-afghanistan/girls-return-to-high-school-in-some-regions-of-afghanistan |access-date=17 February 2023 |website=Geneva Solutions}}</ref> Women were mandated to wear [[Niqāb|face coverings]] in public, and barred from travelling more than {{convert|45|mi||round=10|order=flip}} without a [[Mahram|close male relative]]. In 2022, [[Hibatullah Akhundzada]], the Taliban's reclusive leader, rejected international criticism and pleas for easing human rights restrictions, refusing any negotiations or compromises on the Taliban's "Islamic system" of governance. <ref name="tg">{{cite news|title='It's our system': Taliban leader hits out at foreign demands on Afghan regime|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/01/taliban-leader-hits-out-foreign-demands-afghan-government|date=1 July 2022|website=The Guardian|access-date=1 July 2022|language=en}}</ref><ref name="voa2022">{{cite web|first=Ayaz|last=Gul|title=Taliban Chief Slams Foreign 'Interference' in His 'Islamic' Governance|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-chief-slams-foreign-interference-in-his-islamic-governance/6641859.html|website=VOA News|access-date=1 July 2022 |language=en|date=1 July 2022}}</ref><ref name="alj">{{cite web|title=Taliban supreme leader addresses major gathering in Kabul|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/1/taliban-supreme-leader-addresses-gathering|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=1 July 2022|language=en|date=1 July 2022}}</ref> The Taliban extended the school education ban for women to university education for women and barred them from working in [[Non-governmental organization|NGOs]].<ref name=BBC/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20221220-taliban-forbids-university-education-for-afghan-girls-nationwide|title=Taliban prohibit university educations for Afghan women in latest revocation of rights|publisher=France 24|date=20 December 2022 |access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> Within two years after seizing Afghanistan for the second time, the Taliban shut down beauty salons and banned women from accessing gyms and parks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yong |first1=Nicholas |title=Taliban order Afghanistan's hair and beauty salons to shut |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66094490 |access-date=2023-07-04 |work=[[BBC]] |date=2023-07-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704113014/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66094490 |archive-date=2023-07-04 |location=SIngapore |language=en}}</ref> According to the [[United Nations]] (UN), the treatment of women by Taliban may amount to gender apartheid.<ref>{{cite web |title=Experts: Taliban treatment of women may be "gender apartheid" |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/07/experts-taliban-treatment-women-may-be-gender-apartheid |website=United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |access-date=29 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718164026/https://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2023/07/experts-taliban-treatment-women-may-be-gender-apartheid |archive-date=18 July 2023 |language=en |date=11 July 2023}}</ref>

==Gender policies==
[[File:Burqa Afghanistan 01.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Afghan women wearing the burqa]]
From the age of eight onward, [[women in Afghanistan|girls in Afghanistan]] were not allowed to be in direct contact with males other than a close "blood relative", husband, or in-law ''(see [[mahram]])''.<ref name="Griffin">{{Cite book|last=Griffin|first=Michael|url=https://archive.org/details/reapingwhirlwind00grif/mode/2up|title=Reaping the Whirlwind: The Taliban movement in Afghanistan|publisher=Pluto Press|year=2001|isbn=0-7453-1274-8|location=London|pages=6–11, 159–165}}</ref> From September 1996 to December 2001, when the Taliban were in control of 90 percent of Afghanistan, it imposed the following restrictions on women:
* Women should not appear in the streets without a ''mahram'', or without wearing a [[burqa]].<ref name=":2" />
* Women should not wear high-heeled shoes as no man should hear a woman's footsteps lest it excite him.<ref name=":2" />
* Women must not speak loudly in public as no stranger should hear a woman's voice.<ref name="rawa1">{{cite web|title=Some of the restrictions imposed by Taliban in Afghanistan|url=http://www.rawa.org/rules.htm|access-date=1 November 2015|publisher=Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan}}</ref>
* All street-level windows should be painted over or screened to prevent women from being visible from the street.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ferris-Rotman |first=Amie |date=13 June 2011 |title=Q+A: Women's rights in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-women-qanda-idUSTRE75C1BI20110613 |access-date=22 December 2022}}</ref>
* Photographing, filming and displaying pictures of girls and women in newspapers, books, shops or the home was banned.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Helen |date=18 August 2021 |title=What is Sharia law? Rules of the Islamic law and what it means for women as Taliban take over Afghanistan |work=National World |url=https://www.nationalworld.com/news/what-is-sharia-law-rules-of-the-islamic-law-and-what-it-means-for-women-as-taliban-take-over-afghanistan-3350759 |access-date=22 December 2022}}</ref>
* The modification of any place names that included the word "women". For example, "women's garden" was renamed "spring garden".<ref>{{cite news|author=Nordland|first=Rod|date=20 June 2010|title=Working to Help a Haven for Afghan Women Blossom|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/world/asia/21kabul.html|url-status=live|access-date=9 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816145010/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/world/asia/21kabul.html|archive-date=16 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=":2" />
* Women were forbidden to appear on the balconies of their apartments or houses.<ref name=":2" />
* Ban on women's presence on radio, television or at public gatherings of any kind.<ref name="islamfortoday1">{{cite web|url=http://www.islamfortoday.com/afghanistanwomen4.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011122070750/http://www.islamfortoday.com/afghanistanwomen4.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 November 2001|title=AccountSupport|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>
* Women were not allowed to wash the laundry at the river banks, if found, the woman was to be brought into the custody of a male guardian who was supposed to severely punish her.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Cole |first=Juan R.I. |year=2003 |title=The Taliban, Women, and the Hegelian Private Sphere |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40971640 |journal=Social Research |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=788 |jstor=40971640 |issn=0037-783X}}</ref>

===Mobility===
The Taliban rulings regarding public conduct placed severe restrictions on a woman's freedom of movement and created difficulties for those who could not afford a burqa (which was not commonly worn in Afghanistan prior to the rise of the Taliban and considered a fairly expensive garment at upwards of {{US$|9.00|1998|showyear=yes|link=yes|about=yes}}<ref name="physicians"/>{{rp|8}}) or did not have any ''[[mahram]]''. These women faced virtual [[house arrest]].<ref name="Marsden"/> In December 1998, a decree issued by the [[Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)|Ministry for the promotion of Virtue and prevention of Vice]] banned taxi drivers from transporting women who did not completely cover their faces.<ref name=":0" /> A woman who was badly beaten by the Taliban for walking the streets alone stated "my father was killed in battle&nbsp;... I have no husband, no brother, no son. How am I to live if I can't go out alone?"<ref name="Latifa"/> 

A field worker for the NGO [[Terre des hommes]] witnessed the impact on female mobility at Kabul's largest state-run orphanage, Taskia Maskan. After the female staff was relieved of their duties, the approximately 400 girls living at the institution were locked inside for a year without being allowed outside for recreation.<ref name="Griffin"/>

Decrees that affected women's mobility were:
* Ban on women riding bicycles or motorcycles, even with their ''mahrams''.
* Women were forbidden to ride in a taxi without a ''mahram''.
* Segregated bus services introduced to prevent males and females travelling on the same bus.<ref name="rawa1"/>

The lives of [[rural women]] were less dramatically affected as they generally lived and worked within secure kin environments. A relative level of freedom was necessary for them to continue with their chores or labour. If these women travelled to a nearby town, the same urban restrictions would have applied to them.<ref name="Maley"/>

===Employment===
The [[Taliban]] disagreed with past Afghan statutes that allowed the employment of [[Afghan women]] in a mixed sex workplace. The claim was that this was a breach of purdah and [[Sharia law]].<ref name="Gohari"/>  On 30 September 1996, the Taliban decreed that all women should be banned from employment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a84d0.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021170235/http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a84d0.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 October 2006|title=UNHCR – Document Not Found|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|publisher=United Nations High Commission for Refugees|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref> It is estimated that 25 per cent of government employees were female, and when compounded by losses in other sectors, many thousands of women were affected.<ref name="Griffin"/>

Another loss was for those whom the employed women served. Elementary education of all children, not just girls, was shut down in Kabul, where virtually all of the elementary school teachers were women. Thousands of educated families fled Kabul for Pakistan after the Taliban took the city in 1996.<ref name="Marsden"/><ref name="Rashid">{{Cite book|last=Rashid|first=Ahmed|url=https://archive.org/details/talibanislamoiln0000rash/mode/2up|title=Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2000|isbn=9781860644177|author-link=Ahmed Rashid}}</ref>{{rp|106}} 

Between April and June 1998, the United Nations left their offices in Qandahar following disagreements over a regulation which demanded the female staff to only operate accompanied by a ''mahram''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Rubin |first=Barnett R. |year=1999 |title=Afghanistan under the Taliban |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/45318300 |journal=Current History |volume=98 |issue=625 |pages=90 |doi=10.1525/curh.1999.98.625.79 |jstor=45318300 |s2cid=150495234 |issn=0011-3530}}</ref> The two parties later came to an agreement over the working conditions, but the Taliban demanded the agreement to be kept secret.<ref name=":3" /> However, most expatriate staff including the staff of the UN left Afghanistan following the death of a UN official in August 1998.<ref name=":3" />    

Taliban Supreme Leader [[Mullah Omar|Mohammed Omar]] assured female civil servants and teachers they would still receive wages of around US$5 per month, although this was a short-term offering.<ref>{{cite web|date=13 April 2000|title=Taliban lay off thousands of civil servants, all female employees|url=http://www.rawa.org/layoff.htm|access-date=17 August 2021|publisher=Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan}}</ref> A Taliban representative stated: "The Taliban's act of giving monthly salaries to 30,000 job-free women, now sitting comfortably at home, is a whiplash in the face of those who are defaming Taliban with reference to the rights of women. These people through baseless propaganda are trying to incite the women of Kabul against the Taliban".<ref name="Gohari"/> A Taliban official mentioned in 1998 that in the Quran it says "stay at home" (in the feminine form), therefore there is not much to do other than to obey.<ref name=":1">Cole, Juan R.I. (2003).pp.793–794</ref>

The Taliban promoted the use of the extended family, or [[zakat]] system of charity to ensure women should not need to work. However, years of conflict meant that [[Nuclear family|nuclear families]] often struggled to support themselves let alone aid additional relatives.<ref name="Marsden"/> Qualification for legislation often rested on men, such as food aid, which had to be collected by a male relative. The possibility that a woman may not possess any living male relatives was dismissed by Mullah Ghaus, the acting foreign minister, who said he was surprised at the degree of international attention and concern for such a small percentage of the Afghan population.<ref name="Griffin"/> A [[Physicians for Human Rights]] researcher that travelled to Kabul in 1998 described "a city of beggars" filled with "women who had once been teachers and nurses now moving in the streets like ghosts under their enveloping ''burqas'', selling every possession and begging so as to feed their children."<ref name="physicians"/>{{rp|3}}

Female health professionals could be exempt from the employment ban, yet they operated in much-reduced freedom of movement.<ref name=":2" /> The ordeal of physically getting to work due to the segregated bus system and widespread harassment meant some women left their jobs by choice. Of those who remained, many lived in fear of the regime and chose to reside at hospitals during the working week to minimise exposure to Taliban forces.<ref name="Marsden"/> These women were vital to ensuring the continuance of gynaecological, ante-natal, and midwifery services, but it was on a much compromised level. Under the Rabbani regime, there had been around 200 female staff working in Kabul's Mullalai Hospital, yet barely 50 remained under the Taliban. NGOs operating in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 found the shortage of female health professionals to be a significant obstacle to their work.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=119&Language=1|title=News|work=UNFPA – United Nations Population Fund|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>

The other exception to the employment ban allowed a reduced number of humanitarian workers to remain in service. The Taliban segregation codes meant that women were invaluable for gaining access to vulnerable women or conducting outreach research. This exception was not sanctioned by the entire Taliban movement, so instances of female participation, or lack thereof, varied with each circumstance.<ref name="Marsden"/> The city of [[Herat]] was particularly affected by Taliban adjustments to the treatment of women, as it had been one of the more cosmopolitan and outward-looking areas of Afghanistan prior to 1995. Women had previously been allowed to work in a limited range of jobs, but this was stopped by Taliban authorities. The new governor of Herat, [[Mullah Razzaq]], issued orders for women to be forbidden to pass his office for fear of their distracting nature.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Loyn|first=David|title=Butcher & Bolt: Two Hundred Years of Foreign Engagement in Afghanistan|publisher=Hutchinson|year=2008|isbn=978-0091921408|location=London|author-link=David Loyn}}</ref>{{rp|243}}

On 19 May 2022, the Taliban rulers ordered all female TV presenters to cover their faces on air. The directive came from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which replaced the country's Ministry of Women's Affairs after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/19/taliban-orders-female-afghan-tv-presenters-to-cover-faces-on-air|title=Taliban orders female Afghan TV presenters to cover faces on air|accessdate=19 May 2022|website=The Guardian|date=19 May 2022 }}</ref>

In December 2022, the Taliban banned women from working in [[non-government organisations]] (NGOs), and ordered all such organisations to cease employment of female employees.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/24/asia/taliban-female-employees-ngos-intl/index.html|title=Taliban orders NGOs to ban female employees from coming to work|first1=Ehsan|last1=Popalzai|first2=Sahar|last2=Akbarzai|first3=Mohammed|last3=Tawfeeq|date=25 December 2022|accessdate=26 December 2022|publisher=CNN}}</ref> This resulted in some NGOs being unable to continue their work in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64090549|title=Foreign aid groups halt work after Taliban ban on female staff|first1=Natasha|last1=Preskey|first2=Neggeen|last2=Sadid|date=26 December 2022|accessdate=26 December 2022|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

===Education===

==== First rule ====
The Taliban claimed to recognise their Islamic duty to offer education to both boys and girls, yet a decree was passed that banned girls above the age of 8 from receiving education. Maulvi Kalamadin insisted it was only a temporary suspension and that women would return to school and work once facilities and street security were adapted to prevent cross-gender contact. The Taliban wished to have total control of Afghanistan before calling upon an [[Ulema]] body to determine the content of a new curriculum to replace the Islamic yet unacceptable [[Mujahadin]] version.<ref name="Marsden"/>

The female employment ban was felt greatly in the education system. Within Kabul alone, the ruling affected 106,256 girls, 148,223 male students, and 8,000 female university undergraduates. 7,793 female teachers were dismissed, a move that crippled the provision of education and caused 63 schools to close due to a sudden lack of educators.<ref name="Griffin"/> Some women ran clandestine schools within their homes for local children, or for other women under the guise of sewing classes, such as the [[Golden Needle Sewing School]]. The learners, parents, and educators were aware of the consequences should the Taliban discover their activities, but for those who felt trapped under the strict Taliban rule, such actions allowed them an opportunity and a sense of self-determination and hope.<ref name="Latifa"/> The Undersecretary of Education Mawlawi Sa'id Shahidkhayl explained in 1998, that education for women was in need of a fatwa regarding its limits.<ref name=":1" />

==== From 2021 to the present day ====
After their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban initially [[Single-sex education|gender segregated]] classrooms in universities as long as they "followed Islamic standards".<ref name=":7" /> However, in September 2021, they only allowed boys to return to school, preventing most teenage girls from returning to [[secondary education]]. The ban did not affect [[Primary school|primary schools]], but girls' attendance in those schools appeared to also have fallen significantly.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":10" />
In March 2022, the Taliban abruptly reversed their plans to allow girls to resume their secondary school education (defined as grade seven and upwards in Afghanistan). With the exception of the current cohort of university students, this decision leaves graduating from sixth grade as the highest level of educational attainment possible for Afghan women. Secondary schools for boys reopened on schedule.<ref>{{cite news|last=George|first=Susannah|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/03/23/taliban-afghan-girls-school-secondary/|title=Taliban reopens Afghan schools—except for girls after sixth grade|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=23 March 2022|accessdate=23 March 2022}}</ref> Pakistani Islamic scholars, including [[Taqi Usmani]], urged the Taliban to re-open secondary schools for women.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mufti Usmani urges Taliban to reopen girls' schools|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/2353648/mufti-usmani-urges-taliban-to-reopen-girls-schools|publisher=Tribune Pakistan}}</ref>

On 20 December 2022, the Ministry of Higher Education informed the country's public and private universities that women were suspended from university education.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |last=Noori |first=Hikmat |date=20 December 2022 |title=Taliban ban Afghan women from university education |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/20/taliban-ban-afghan-women-university-education |access-date=21 December 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> The ministry stated that female attendance would remain suspended "until a suitable environment" had been established at universities and promised that it would provide such a setting soon. However, [[BBC News]] pointed out that they had previously reneged on similar promises to reopen secondary education.<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|title=Afghanistan: Taliban ban women from universities amid condemnation|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64045497|publisher=BBC News|access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref> Some Taliban leaders told ''BBC News'' that they disagreed with restrictions on female education.<ref name="BBC" /> The Taliban decision was also widely condemned internationally.<ref name="BBC" /> Some provinces still allow secondary education for girls despite the ban.<ref name="amu.tv"/><ref name="Neda Safi"/>

===Government===
{{See also|Women in the Parliament of Afghanistan}}
On 17 August 2021, shortly after the [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|Fall of Kabul]], a senior member of the Taliban cultural commission, Enamullah Samangani, called on women to join the government.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/afghanistan-women-taliban-government-amnesty-b1903880.html|title=Taliban urges women to join its government in Afghanistan|last=Muzaffar|first=Maroosha|date=17 August 2021|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210911195451/https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/south-asia/afghanistan-women-taliban-government-amnesty-b1903880.html|archive-date=11 September 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> In contrast, in early September, the Taliban said that women would not be allowed to "work in high-ranking posts" in the government<ref name="Tolo_protest_in_Kabul_turns_violent" /> and "ruled out" women in the Cabinet.<ref name="Guardian_evidence_contradicts" /> The [[Cabinet of Afghanistan#Acting Cabinet (2021–present)|acting Cabinet]] announced by the Taliban on 7 September consisted only of men.<ref name="Guardian_Talib_all_male_cabinet" /><ref name="BBC_Taliban_Cabinet_2.0rc1" />

===Health care===
Prior to the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan, male doctors had been allowed to treat women in hospitals, but the decree that no male doctor should be allowed to touch the body of a woman under the pretext of consultation was soon introduced.<ref name="Latifa">{{Cite book|last=Latifa|url=https://archive.org/details/myforbiddenfaceg00latirich/mode/2up|title=My Forbidden Face: Growing up under the Taliban|publisher=Hyperion|year=2001|isbn=0-7868-6901-1|location=New York|pages=29–107}}</ref> With fewer female health professionals in employment, the distances many women had to travel for attention increased while the provision of ante-natal clinics declined.<ref name="Marsden"/>

In Kabul, some women established informal clinics in their homes to service family and neighbours, yet as medical supplies were hard to obtain, their effectiveness was limited. Many women endured prolonged suffering or a premature death due to the lack of treatment. For those families that had the means, inclination, and mahram support, medical attention could be sought in Pakistan.<ref name="Latifa"/>

In October 1996, women were barred from accessing the traditional [[Turkish bath|hammam]], public baths, as the opportunities for socialising were ruled un-Islamic. These baths were an important facility in a nation where few possessed running water and the bar gave cause for the UN to predict a rise in scabies and vaginal infections among women denied methods of hygiene as well as access to health care.<ref name="Griffin"/> Nasrine Gross, an Afghan-American author, stated in 2001 that it has been four years since many Afghan women had been able to pray to their God as "Islam prohibits women from praying without a bath after their periods".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gross|first=Nasrine|title=Afghan Women's Request for Recognition at the U.N.|url=http://www.chicagonetworkjp.org/gross_eng.asp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011012220013/http://www.chicagonetworkjp.org/gross_eng.asp|archive-date=12 October 2001|access-date=17 August 2021|website=|publisher=Chicago Network for Justice and Peace}}</ref> 

In June 1998, the [[Taliban]] banned women from attending general hospitals in the capital, whereas before they had been able to attend a women-only ward of general hospitals. This left only one hospital in Kabul at which they could seek treatment.<ref name="Rashid" />{{rp|71}}

After the Taliban takeover, female healthcare workers reported safety issues and being harassed by the Taliban. Maternal health care conditions declined and many doctors reported that infant and child mortality had increased.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 1, 2022 |title=Report: Afghan Maternal Health Care in 'Crisis' |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2022-11-01/afghan-women-and-childrens-health-care-in-crisis-report-finds |access-date=December 30, 2022 |website=U.S. News}}</ref> 

In February 2023, the Taliban ordered pharmacies in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif to clear their stocks of birth control medicine.<ref name=":11" />

====Ban on women's participation in healthcare sector====
In December 2024, the Taliban's health ministry banned women from being trained in [[nursing]] and [[midwifery]], according to media reports confirmed by ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref name="Guardian midwife ban">{{cite web|last1=Kumar|first1=Ruchi|last2=Joya|first2=Zahra|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/dec/06/taliban-afghanistan-ban-women-training-nurses-midwives-outrageous-act-ignorance-human-rights-healthcare|title=Taliban move to ban women training as nurses and midwives 'an outrageous act of ignorance'|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2024-12-06|accessdate=2024-12-08}}</ref> This was a reversal of an earlier February 2024 decision to permit basic medical training for women.<ref name="NPR midwife ban">{{cite web|last=Kumar|first=Ruchi|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2024/12/04/g-s1-36765/afghanistan-taliban-women-nurses-midwives|title=Rights Group: Afghan women barred from studying nursing and midwifery|work=[[NPR]]|date=2024-12-04|accessdate=2024-12-08}}</ref> According to ''[[NPR]]'', the health ministry had lobbied for an exemption from the general ban on women's education in the healthcare sector because "in some provinces, the Taliban does not allow women to seek treatment from male medical professionals."<ref name="NPR midwife ban"/> The Taliban's ban on basic medical training for women was widely condemned by human rights organizations as a danger to the health and well-being of Afghan women and children, with Afghanistan already having among the [[List of countries by maternal mortality ratio|highest maternal mortality ratios in the world]] according to 2020 data, before the Taliban's 2021 seizure of power.<ref name="Guardian midwife ban"/><ref name="NPR midwife ban"/> For example, Heather Barr of Human Right Watch stated: "If you ban women from being treated by male healthcare professionals, and then you ban women from training to become healthcare professionals, the consequences are clear: women will not have access to healthcare and will die as a result."<ref name="Guardian midwife ban"/> The [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]] (OHCHR) stated that the ban "is profoundly discriminatory, short-sighted and puts the lives of women and girls at risk in multiple ways."<ref>{{cite web|last=Mishra|first=Vibhu|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1157866|title=Afghanistan: UN condemns Taliban ban on women attending medical classes|publisher=[[United Nations]]|date=2024-12-05|accessdate=2024-12-08}}</ref>

===Forced confinement===
Family harmony was badly affected by mental stress, isolation and depression that often accompanied the forced confinement of women. A 1998 survey of 160 women residents or former residents of Kabul found that 97 per cent showed signs of serious depression and 71 per cent reported a decline in their physical well-being.<ref name="physicians"/>{{rp|6–13}}<ref name="Griffin"/> Latifa, a Kabul resident and author, wrote:<ref name="Latifa"/>

<blockquote>The apartment resembles a prison or a hospital. Silence weighs heavily on all of us. As none of us do much, we haven't got much to tell each other. Incapable of sharing our emotions, we each enclose ourselves in our own fear and distress. Since everyone is in the same black pit, there isn't much point in repeating time and again that we can't see clearly.</blockquote>

The Taliban closed the country's beauty salons.<ref name="LATimes2001-12-15">{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Carol J.|date=15 December 2001|title=The Beauty Shop Beckons in Post-Taliban Kabul|work=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-15-mn-15032-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224015726/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-dec-15-mn-15032-story.html|archive-date=24 February 2021}}</ref> [[Nail varnish]] and cosmetics were prohibited.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 March 1998|title=Taliban Women|work=Religion & Ethics Newsweekly|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week127/cover.html|url-status=dead|access-date=18 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308205201/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week127/cover.html|archive-date=8 March 2011}}</ref>

Taliban restrictions on the cultural presence of women covered several areas. Place names including the word "women" were modified so that the word was not used. Women were forbidden to laugh loudly as it was considered improper for a stranger to hear a woman's voice. Women were prohibited from participating in sports or entering a sports club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rawa.org|title=Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>

===Slavery of women===
In 2017, Taliban members were accused of sanctioning forced marriages, [[marital rape]], and slavery of women.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-rights-women-idUSKCN1B31PL | title=Invisible Taliban child brides, widows trapped as sex slaves | newspaper=Reuters | date=23 August 2017 }}</ref>

==Punishments==
[[File:Taliban beating woman in public RAWA.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A member of the Taliban's [[Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)|religious police]] beating an [[Afghan woman]] in Kabul on 26 August 2001. The footage, filmed by the [[Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan]]]]
Punishments were often carried out publicly, either as formal spectacles held in sports stadiums or town squares or spontaneous street beatings. Civilians lived in fear of harsh penalties as there was little mercy; anyone caught breaking decrees were often treated with extreme violence.<ref name="Griffin"/> Examples include:

* In October 1996, a woman had the tip of her thumb cut off for wearing nail varnish.<ref name="Griffin"/>
* In December 1996, Radio Shari'a announced that 225 Kabul women had been seized and punished for violating the sharia code of dress.<ref name=":2" /> The sentence was handed down by a tribunal and the women were lashed on their legs and backs for their misdemeanor.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA110051997?open&of=ENG-AFG|title=Women in Afghanistan: The violations continue|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030510100948/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA110051997?open&of=ENG-AFG|archive-date=10 May 2003|publisher=Amnesty International|date=1 June 1997|accessdate=12 November 2007}}</ref> A Taliban official reminded the women to cover their body completely, and to observe ''Hejab'' (seclusion of society) as mandated by the Sharia.<ref name=":2" /> In case of a violation, there would be no right for complaint.<ref name=":2" />  
* In May 1997, five female [[CARE International]] employees with authorisation from the Ministry of the Interior to conduct research for an emergency feeding programme were forced from their vehicle by members of the religious police. The guards used a public address system to insult and harass the women before striking them with a metal and leather whip over 1.5 meters (almost 5 feet) in length.<ref name="Maley"/>
[[File:Taliban execute Zarmeena in Kabul in1999 RAWA.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Public execution of a woman, known as Zarmina, by the Taliban at the [[National Stadium (Afghanistan)|Ghazi Sports Stadium]], Kabul, 16 November 1999. The mother of five children had been found guilty of killing her husband while he slept.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rawa.org/murder-w.htm|title=Filmed by RAWA: Taliban publicly execute an Afghan woman|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-feb-16-ca-krikorian16-story.html|title=Documenting truth in dangerous places|last=Krikorian|first=Michael|date=16 February 2003|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>]]
* In 1999, a mother of five children was executed in front of 30,000 spectators in Kabul's Ghazi Sport stadium for murdering her husband (see right). She was imprisoned for three years and extensively [[torture]]d prior to the execution, yet she refused to plead her innocence in a bid to protect her daughter (reportedly the actual culprit).<ref>{{cite web|title=Zarmina's Story|url=http://www.rawa.org/zarmeena2.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719182404/http://www.rawa.org/zarmeena2.htm|archive-date=19 July 2021|access-date=1 November 2015|publisher=Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan}}</ref>
* When a Taliban raid discovered a woman running an informal school in her apartment, they beat the children and threw the woman down a flight of stairs (breaking her leg) and then imprisoned her. They threatened to stone her family publicly if she refused to sign a declaration of loyalty to the Taliban and their laws.<ref name="Latifa"/>
* An Afghan girl named [[Bibi Aisha]] was promised to a new family through a tribal method of solving disputes known as [[Baad (practice)|baad]]. When she fled the violence girls often suffer under baad, her new family found her, and a Taliban commander ordered her to be punished as an example, "lest other girls in the village try to do the same thing".<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|last=Anthony|first=Andrew|title=Afghanistan's propaganda war takes a new twist|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/bibi-aisha-afghanistan-disfigured-taliban|access-date=5 December 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|date=5 December 2010|location=London}}</ref> Her ears and nose were cut off and she was left for dead in the mountains, but survived.<ref name=Guardian />
* Working women are threatened into quitting their jobs. Failure to comply with the Taliban's threats has led to women being shot and killed, as in the case of 22-year-old [[Hossai]] in July 2010.<ref>[http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2010/07/14/the-taliban-war-on-women-continues.html The Taliban War on Women Continues] Human Rights Watch in the Wall Street Journal 14 July 2010</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Reid|first=Rachel|date=14 July 2010|title=The Taliban War on Women Continues|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704288204575362980304254578|access-date=16 August 2021|issn=0099-9660}}</ref>
*In 2013, Indian author [[Sushmita Banerjee]] was shot dead by Taliban militants for allegedly defying Taliban dictates. She was married to an Afghan businessman and had recently relocated to Afghanistan. Earlier, she had escaped two instances of execution by Taliban in 1995 and later fled to India. Her book based on her escape from Taliban was also filmed in an Indian movie.<ref>{{cite web|title=Indian Author Sushmita Banerjee killed by Taliban in Afghanistan|url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2013/09/indian-author-sushmita-banerjee-killed-by-taliban-in-afghanistan/|access-date=5 September 2013}}</ref>
* On 12 July 2021, a woman in [[Faryab Province]] was beaten to death by Taliban militants and her house was set alight because she would not cook for a group of their fighters.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Coren|first1=Anna|last2=Sidhu|first2=Sandi|last3=Bina|first3=Abdul Basir|last4=Whiteman|first4=Hilary|date=18 August 2021|title=The Taliban knocked on her door 3 times. The fourth time, they killed her|publisher=CNN|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/17/asia/afghanistan-women-taliban-intl-hnk-dst/index.html|access-date=18 August 2021}}</ref>
* In August 2021, Afghan police reported that Taliban extremists had killed an Afghan woman in [[Balkh Province]] for wearing tight clothing and not being accompanied by a male relative. The Taliban denied the accusation and said they were investigating the incident.<ref>{{Cite news|date=4 August 2021|title=Afghan Police Say Taliban Killed Young Woman For Wearing Tight Clothing|publisher=Gandhara|url=https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-taliban-woman-killed/31393873.html|access-date=18 August 2021}}</ref>

Many punishments were carried out by individual militias without the sanction of Taliban authorities, as it was against official Taliban policy to punish women in the street. A more official line was the punishment of men for instances of female misconduct: a reflection of a patriarchal society and the belief that men are duty bound to control women. Maulvi Kalamadin stated in 1997, "Since we cannot directly punish women, we try to use taxi drivers and shopkeepers as a means to pressure them" to conform. Examples of punishment of men include:
* If a taxi driver picked up a woman with her face uncovered or unaccompanied by a mahram, then he faced a jail sentence, and the husband would be punished.	
* If a woman was caught washing clothes in a river then she would be escorted home by Islamic authorities where her husband/mahram would be severely punished.
* If a tailor was found taking female measurements, the tailor would face imprisonment.<ref name="Maley"/>{{rp|156–157}}

Since the Taliban's seizure of power in 2021, there have been many reports of sexual violence, rape, and torture of Afghan women in Taliban-run prisons, especially after the passage of "anti-begging" laws in 2024 resulted in larger numbers of women being detained.<ref>{{cite web|last=Amini|first=Yalda|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/nov/29/afghanistan-taliban-women-children-arrested-begging-rape-torture-killings-jails-destitution-work-ban|title=Women arrested by Taliban for begging report rape and killings in Afghan jails|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2024-11-29|accessdate=2024-12-08}}</ref> In one incident, "''The Guardian'' has seen video evidence of a female Afghan human rights activist being gang-raped and tortured in a Taliban jail by armed men."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Joya|first1=Zahra|last2=McGreal|first2=Chris|last3=Poladi|first3=Khudadad|last4=Kelly|first4=Annie|last5=Levitt|first5=Tom|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/jul/03/video-appears-to-shows-gang-rape-of-woman-in-a-taliban-jail|title=Video appears to show gang-rape of Afghan woman in a Taliban jail|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=2024-07-03|accessdate=2024-12-08}}</ref>

==International response==
[[File:RAWA protest rally against Taliban in Peshawar April28-1998.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Activists protest against the Taliban on 28 April 1998 in [[Peshawar]], Pakistan.]]
The protests of international agencies carried little weight with Taliban authorities, who gave precedence to their interpretation of Islamic law and did not feel bound by UN codes or human rights laws.<ref name="Maley"/> After the Taliban takeover of [[Herat]] in 1995, the UN had hoped the gender policies would become more 'moderate' "as it matured from a popular uprising into a responsible government with linkages to the donor community".<ref name="Griffin"/> The Taliban refused to bow to international pressure and reacted calmly to aid suspensions.

* In November 1995, [[UNICEF]] suspended all aid to education in regions under Taliban control, as they argued the ban on mixing males and females in education was a breach of the [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]]. In the aftermath of the 1995 [[Fourth World Conference on Women|Beijing Women's Conference]], this action moved to solidify UNICEF's role as a leading agency in matters concerning women and children.<ref name="Griffin"/>
* In 1996, [[Save the Children]] (UK) also withdrew support as communication with women, the primary child carers, was most difficult.<ref name="Griffin"/>
* UN Secretary-General [[Boutros Boutros Ghali]] expressed his concern regarding the status of Afghan women.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hri.org/cgi-bin/brief?/news/world/undh/96-10-07.undh.html |title=United Nations Daily Highlights 96-10-07|website=hri.org |access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref>
* In 1998, a detailed report by [[Physicians for Human Rights]] concluded in its executive summary: "To PHR's knowledge, no other regime in the world has methodically and violently forced half of its population into virtual house arrest, prohibiting them on pain of physical punishment from showing their faces, seeking medical care without a male escort, or attending school.&nbsp;... It is difficult to find another government or would-be government in the world that has deliberately created such poverty by arbitrarily depriving half the population under its control of jobs, schooling, mobility, and health care."<ref name="physicians"/>{{rp|2–3}}
* In 1999, US Secretary of State [[Madeleine Albright]] publicly stated "We are speaking up on behalf of the women and girls of Afghanistan, who have been victimised...it is criminal and we each have a responsibility to stop it".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/466739.stm|title=World: South Asia Albright warns Taleban on women|date=6 October 1999|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=12 November 2007}}</ref>

In January 2006, a London conference on Afghanistan led to the creation of an [[International Conference on Afghanistan, London (2006)|International Compact]], which included benchmarks for the treatment of women. The Compact includes the following point: "Gender:By end-1389 (20 March 2011): the National Action Plan for Women in Afghanistan will be fully implemented; and, in line with Afghanistan's MDGs, female participation in all Afghan governance institutions, including elected and appointed bodies and the civil service, will be strengthened."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ands.gov.af/ands/jcmb/src/jcmb5/3C.%20Table%203%20Executive%20Summary%20of%20all%20benchmarks%20-%20Eng.pdf |title=Afghanistan Compact Annual Report: March 2006 – March 2007 (1385). Table Three: Executive Summary of All Afghanistan Compact Benchmarks  |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205033113/http://www.ands.gov.af/ands/jcmb/src/jcmb5/3C.%20Table%203%20Executive%20Summary%20of%20all%20benchmarks%20-%20Eng.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2010}}</ref> However, an [[Amnesty International]] report on 11 June 2008, declared that there needed to be "no more empty promises" with regard to Afghanistan, citing the treatment of women as one such unfulfilled goal.<ref>{{Cite news|date=11 June 2008|title=Afghanistan: No more empty promises in Paris: briefing paper|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa11/007/2008/en/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817210415/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa11/007/2008/en/|archive-date=17 August 2021|access-date=20 August 2021|publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref>

In September 2021, Pakistan's Prime Minister [[Imran Khan]] said that a ban on women's education in Afghanistan would be un-Islamic, and he called for the leadership to be inclusive and respect human rights.<ref>{{Cite news|date=21 September 2021|title=Afghan girls school ban would be un-Islamic, Pakistan PM says|language=en-GB|publisher=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58639538|access-date=21 September 2021}}</ref>

On 29 December 2021, U.S. Secretary of State [[Antony Blinken]] announced the appointment of [[Rina Amiri]] as special envoy for Afghan women, girls, and human rights. The appointment came as women in the country were facing increased oppression by the ruling Taliban.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/rina-amiri-named-us-special-envoy-for-afghan-women-girls-and-human-rights-/6374350.html|title=Rina Amiri Named US Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights|accessdate=29 December 2021|website=VOA News|date=29 December 2021 }}</ref>

== Post-2021 takeover ==
In May 2022, the [[Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)|Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice]] published a decree requiring all women in Afghanistan to wear full-body coverings when in public (either a [[burqa]] or an [[abaya]] paired with a [[niqāb]], which leaves only the eyes uncovered). The decree said enforcement action including fines, prison time, or termination from government employment would be taken against male "guardians" who fail to ensure their female relatives abide by the law. Rights groups, including the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan, sharply criticised the decision. The decision is expected to adversely affect the [[Recognition of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan|Islamic Emirate's chances of international recognition]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=George |first1=Susannah |title=Taliban orders head-to-toe coverings for Afghan women in public |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/07/taliban-orders-head-toe-coverings-afghan-women-public/ |access-date=8 May 2022 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=7 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Graham-Harrison |first1=Emma |title=Taliban order all Afghan women to cover their faces in public |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/07/taliban-order-all-afghan-women-to-wear-burqa |access-date=8 May 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=7 May 2022}}</ref> In an interview with [[Christiane Amanpour]], First Deputy Leader [[Sirajuddin Haqqani]] claimed the decree is only advisory and no form of [[hijab]] is compulsory in Afghanistan,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shelley |first1=Jo |last2=Popalzai |first2=Ehsan |last3=Mengli |first3=Ahmet |last4=Picheta |first4=Rob |title=Top Taliban leader makes more promises on women's rights but quips 'naughty women' should stay home |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/18/asia/amanpour-haqqani-taliban-women-interview-intl/index.html |access-date=20 May 2022 |publisher=CNN |date=19 May 2022 |location=Kabul}}</ref> though this contradicts the reality.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taliban to Enforce Hijab Decree Despite Protests |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/6565822.html |access-date=20 May 2022 |publisher=Voice of America |date=10 May 2022}}</ref> It has been speculated that there is a genuine internal policy division over women's rights between hardliners, including Leader [[Hibatullah Akhundzada]], and pragmatists, though they publicly present a united front.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Gannon |first1=Kathy |title=Taliban divisions deepen as Afghan women defy veil edict |url=https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-religion-kabul-taliban-aec1a4bb5dc2a91fc19954093a5595e0 |access-date=20 May 2022 |work=Associated Press News |date=8 May 2022 |location=Kabul}}</ref>

In July 2022, the Taliban advised female employees in the country's finance ministry to suggest a male relative to replace them so that the women could be dismissed from their positions. Up to 60 female employees reported receiving calls from the HR department requesting them to introduce a male family member to replace them.<ref>{{cite news|title=Send us a man to do your job so we can sack you, Taliban tell female officials|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jul/18/send-us-a-man-to-do-your-job-so-we-can-sack-you-taliban-tell-female-officials | access-date=14 August 2022|newspaper=The Guardian|first=Zuhal|last=Ahad|date=18 July 2022}}</ref>

In November 2022, women were banned from gyms, public baths, public parks, and amusement parks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/nov/13/taliban-bars-afghan-women-going-gyms-public-baths/|title=Taliban bars Afghan women from going to gyms, public baths|website=The Washington Times|first=Matt|last=Delaney|date=13 November 2022|access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/taliban-issues-new-diktat-after-parks-afghan-women-banned-from-gyms-2295933-2022-11-11|title=Taliban issues new diktat, after parks now Afghan women can't enter gyms too|website=India Today|date=11 November 2022|access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref>

While [[Abdul Baqi Haqqani]], the Minister for Higher Education until October 2022, was in favor of women being able to attend universities, his successor [[Neda Mohammad|Neda Mohammad Nadeem]] opposes university education for women.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Hadid |first=Diaa |date=21 December 2022 |title=Taliban begins to enforce education ban, leaving Afghan women with tears and anger |language=en |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/12/21/1144703393/taliban-begins-to-enforce-education-ban-leaving-afghan-women-with-tears-and-ange |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref> 

In February 2023, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that the Taliban began to restrict access to contraceptives. They ordered pharmacies to clear their stocks of birth control medicine and threatened midwives. In Kabul, Taliban fighters stated that "contraceptive use and family planning is a western agenda".<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Janjua |first=Haroon |date=2023-02-17 |title=Taliban fighters stop chemists selling contraception |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/feb/17/taliban-ban-contraception-western-conspiracy |access-date=2023-02-26 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In March 2024, the Taliban's supreme leader, [[Hibatullah Akhundzada]], announced that the group was reinstating [[Flagellation|flogging]] and [[Stoning|death by stoning]] for women as punishment for adultery, saying, "the Taliban's work did not end with the [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|takeover of Kabul]], it has only just begun."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kumar |first1=Ruchi |last2=reporters |first2=Rukhshana |date=2024-03-28 |title=Taliban edict to resume stoning women to death met with horror |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/mar/28/taliban-edict-to-resume-stoning-women-to-death-met-with-horror |access-date=2024-03-30 |work=The Guardian |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

In August 2024, the Taliban issued laws banning the transportation of women traveling alone, and women and men who are not related to each other mixing. Also at the same time they issued laws stating women must always veil their bodies in public and that a face covering is necessary and clothing should never be short, thin, or tight. The laws issued then also stated women should veil themselves in front of all male strangers and all non-Muslims, and that women should not be heard reciting, singing, or reading out loud in public, as well as that women are forbidden to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-taliban-vice-virtue-laws-women-9626c24d8d5450d52d36356ebff20c83|title=The Taliban publish vice laws that ban women's voices and bare faces in public|date=22 August 2024|website=AP News}}</ref>

In January 2025, [[International Criminal Court]] issued two warrants against the [[Supreme Leader of Afghanistan| Taliban supreme leader]] [[Haibatullah Akhundzada]] and the [[Chief Justice of Afghanistan|Chief judge]], [[Abdul Hakim Haqqani]], for committing the [[crimes against humanity]] with the oppression and persecution of Afghan women and girls by depriving their freedom of movement, the rights to control their bodies, to education, and to a private and family life, whereas the alleged resistance and opposition are brutally suppressed with murder, imprisonment, torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, since 2021. ICC member states are obliged to arrest the wanted if they are on their territory.<ref name="Taliban_warrent">{{Cite news |title=Internationaler Strafgerichtshof beantragt Haftbefehl gegen Taliban-Anführer |trans-title=International Criminal Court requests arrest warrant against Taliban leaders |url=https://www.spiegel.de/ausland/afghanistan-internationaler-strafgerichtshof-beantragt-haftbefehl-gegen-taliban-anfuehrer-a-c79606bd-0a95-4b5b-b9db-d6cd1e8481df |newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]]  |language=de |location=[[The Hague]], Netjherlands |date=21 January 2025 |access-date=21 January 2025 }}</ref>

=== Social impacts ===
{{Empty section|date=September 2023}}

==See also==
* [[Criticism of Islam]]
* [[Domestic violence in Pakistan]]
* [[Sharia#Family_law|Family law in Sharia]]
* [[Femicide]]
* [[Gender apartheid]]
* [[Gendercide]]
* [[Islam and violence]]
* [[Women and religion]]
* [[Women in Islam]]
* [[Women in Afghanistan]]
* [[Women's rights in Afghanistan]]
* [[Women in Pakistan]]
* {{section link|Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan|Claimed and alleged attacks}}
* [[Women's rights in Saudi Arabia]]

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="Guardian_evidence_contradicts">{{cite news | last1= Graham-Harrison | first1= Emma | last2= Makoii | first2= Akhtar Mohammad | title= Evidence contradicts Taliban's claim to respect women's rights | date= 3 September 2021 |newspaper= The Guardian | url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/03/afghanistan-women-defiant-amid-taliban-crackdown |access-date= 5 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210904225009/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/03/afghanistan-women-defiant-amid-taliban-crackdown |archive-date= 4 September 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Tolo_protest_in_Kabul_turns_violent">{{cite news | last1= Hakimi | first1= Amina | title= Protest in Kabul to Preserve Rights Turns Violent | date= 4 September 2021 |newspaper= TOLOnews | url= https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-174508 |access-date= 4 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210904185236/https://tolonews.com/afghanistan-174508 |archive-date= 4 September 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="Guardian_Talib_all_male_cabinet">{{cite news | last1= Graham-Harrison | first1= Emma | last2= Makoii | first2= Akhtar Mohammad | title= Taliban name all-male Afghan cabinet including minister wanted by FBI | date= 7 September 2021 |newspaper= The Guardian | url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/07/taliban-name-afghanistans-new-government |access-date= 8 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210907222829/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/07/taliban-name-afghanistans-new-government |archive-date= 7 September 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<ref name="BBC_Taliban_Cabinet_2.0rc1">{{cite news | title= Taliban announce new government for Afghanistan | date= 7 September 2021 |newspaper= BBC News | url= https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58479750 |access-date= 7 September 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210907212403/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58479750 |archive-date= 7 September 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* {{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/global/human_rights/1997_hrp_report/afghanis.html |title=Afghanistan Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997 |publisher=Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; US Department of State |date=30 January 1998 |access-date=11 September 2024}}
* {{cite news |last=RAWA |url=http://www.rawa.org/rules.htm |title=Restrictions Placed on Women by the Taliban |year=2008 |access-date=19 August 2021}}
* {{cite news |last=Allan Nacheman |url=http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/1358/talibans-graphic-stories.html |title=Afghan women tell tales of brutality, terror at hands of Taliban |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=3 May 2001 |access-date=27 March 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080324191116/http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/1358/talibans-graphic-stories.html|archive-date=24 March 2008}}
* {{cite news |last=The UN Refugee Agency |url=http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a84d0.html |title=Chronology of Events January 1995 – February 1997 |access-date=3 April 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021170235/http://www.unhcr.org/home/RSDCOI/3ae6a84d0.html |archive-date=21 October 2006}}
* {{cite news |last=UNFPA |url=http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=119&Language=1 |title=Afghan NGOs Provide Maternal Care Despite Shortage of Skilled Staff |year=2002 |access-date=1 April 2007}}
* {{cite news |last=Amnesty International |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA110051997?open&of=ENG-398 |title=Women in Afghanistan: The violations continue |date=1 June 1997 |access-date=28 March 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061119134557/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA110051997?open&of=ENG-398 |archive-date = 19 November 2006}}
* {{cite news |last=Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) |url=http://www.rawa.org/stoned.htm |title=Afghan woman stoned to death for adultery |date=30 March 1997 |access-date=1 April 2007}}
* {{cite news |last=Anton Antonowicz |url=http://www.rawa.org/zarmeena2.htm |title=Zarmina's Story |date=20 June 2002 |access-date=1 April 2007}}
* {{cite news |publisher=CNN-Showbuzz |url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/News/9903/29/showbuzz/index.html?eref=sitesearch |title=Lenos leading effort to help Afghan women |date=29 March 1999 |access-date=26 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201140704/http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/News/9903/29/showbuzz/index.html?eref=sitesearch |archive-date=1 December 2008}}
* {{cite news |last=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4527385.stm |title=Jolie urges aid for Afghan plight |publisher=BBC |date=8 May 2005 |access-date=26 March 2007}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Hillary Clinton |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,185643,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011127231212/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,185643,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 November 2001 |title=New Hope For Afghanistan's Women |magazine=Time |date=4 November 2001 |access-date=1 April 2007}}
* {{cite news |last=UNICEF |url=http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_statistics.html |title=At a glance: Afghanistan |year=2003 |access-date=1 April 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320104925/http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/afghanistan_statistics.html |archive-date=20 March 2007}}
* {{cite news |last=Nasrine Gross |url=http://www.chicagonetworkjp.org/gross_eng.asp |title=Afghan Women's Request for Recognition at the U.N. |year=2007 |access-date=27 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031820/http://www.chicagonetworkjp.org/gross_eng.asp |archive-date=28 September 2007}}
* {{cite news |last=Department of Public Information |url=http://www.hri.org/cgi-bin/brief?/news/world/undh/96-10-07.undh.html |title=UN Daily Highlights |date=7 October 1996 |access-date=6 April 2007}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://phr.org/wp-content/uploads/1998/08/afghanistan-taliban-war-on-women-1998.pdf|title=The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan|publisher=Physicians for Human Rights|year=1998|isbn=1-879707-25-X|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812221749/https://phr.org/wp-content/uploads/1998/08/afghanistan-taliban-war-on-women-1998.pdf|archive-date=12 August 2021|url-status=live}}
* [http://www.rawa.org/index.php Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA)]
* {{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/03/pakistan.girls.school/|access-date=19 August 2021|last=Basravi|first=Zein|date=3 February 2009|title=Student flees Taliban in 'Pakistan's Switzerland'|publisher=CNN}}
* {{Cite book|last=Skaine|first=Rosemarie|url=https://archive.org/details/womenofafghanist0000skai_i7z6|title=The Women of Afghanistan under the Taliban|publisher=MacFarland & Company|year=2002|isbn=0-7864-1090-6}}
* {{Cite book|last=Skaine|first=Rosemarie|url=https://archive.org/details/womenofafghanist0000skai/page/n3/mode/2up|title=Women of Afghanistan in the Post-Taliban Era: How Lives Have Changed and Where They Stand Today|publisher=MacFarland & Company|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7864-3792-4|author-mask=3}}
* {{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womenforafghanwo0000unse|title=Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2002|isbn=1-4039-6017-8|editor-last=Mehta|editor-first=Sunita|location=}}
* {{Cite web|url=https://www.afghan-web.com/women/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813151037/https://www.afghan-web.com/women/|archive-date=13 August 2021|access-date=19 August 2021|last=Qazi|first=Abdullah|date=9 December 2010|title=The Plight of the Afghan Woman}}
* {{Cite book|last=Rashid|first=Ahmed|url=https://archive.org/details/talibanislamoiln0000rash/mode/2up|title=Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia|publisher=I.B. Tauris|year=2000|isbn=9781860644177|author-link=Ahmed Rashid}}
* [http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/taliban/war-of-ideas War of Ideals: A woman, a school and a tragically complex relationship.]
{{refend}}

{{Segregation by type}}
{{Taliban}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taliban Treatment Of Women}}
[[Category:Human rights abuses in Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Sexual slavery]]
[[Category:Violence against women in Afghanistan| ]]
[[Category:Victims of the Taliban|*Women]]
[[Category:Women's rights in Islam]]