The Erasure of Women

Below is a summary of our findings. Scroll to the bottom of the page to download the full investigation (PDF file). 

Three years after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, the situation for women and girls has worsened, with no indication of improvement. The Taliban’s discriminatory policies towards women, and their strict implementation, amounts to a deliberate attempt to erase women from public life. These policies have resulted in the systematic exclusion of women from many public spaces in Afghanistan, including education, the work force, and even online. Most significantly, these policies have resulted in gender–based violence and femicide, an absolute erasure from female participation in Afghan life.

Following the Taliban’s decision in March 2022 to ban girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade (ages 11-12), and the subsequent ban on women pursuing higher education in December 2022, a reported 80% of school-aged girls and young women in Afghanistan do not have access to education. Afghanistan is the only country in the world to have banned girls’ education.

Between 2020 and 2023, according to the World Bank, women’s labour force participation rate fell from 16% to 5%. Afghan women have been restricted in the types of government positions they are allowed to hold, being banned from working in the civil service, and have been prohibited from working for NGOs. As a result, the health sector, primary education, and limited opportunities in the private sector are the main fields in which women can find employment. Women also face numerous challenges hindering their professional growth and meaningful participation in the workforce, including strict rules on women’s mobility without a mahram (male guardian), and mandatory face covering. 

In January 2024, the Taliban initiated a campaign to arrest women and girls for non-compliance with mandatory hijab rules. Dozens of women and girls were taken into Taliban custody, with many reporting degrading treatment, torture, and even rape. The arrests led to widespread fear among Afghan women and girls, and reports of families preventing women and girls from leaving their houses due to safety concerns, as well as social stigma surrounding women held in Taliban custody.

Despite increased restrictions on women’s rights, women’s protests remain active in Afghanistan. However, over the past three years, the number of outdoor protests sharply decreased, while ‘indoor protests’ in private spaces has risen, indicating that women are prioritising their safety amidst a wave of Taliban suppression and intimidation of protesters. In 2021, AW records showed that only 12% of women’s protests took place indoors, which rose to 51% in 2022, followed by 80% in 2023. By 2024, 94% of all women’s protests were taking place indoors. Moreover, AW note that female protesters tend to take increased measures to obscure their identities while protesting indoors, compared with previous years. 

While the digital space remains important for providing opportunities for women to raise their voices, interact with the world beyond Afghanistan’s borders, and seek educational and work opportunities, social media has also become unsafe, as Afghan women face increased online abuse and harassment. 

Taliban policies have resulted in a reported 25% increase in the rate of child marriage, and a 45% increase in the rate of early childbearing, alongside associated negative inter-generational social and economic consequences. Afghan women are at risk of experiencing domestic violence, and stigmatisation of rape survivors puts victims at risk of incrimination for adultery, detention, and even forced marriage to their rapist. Reports monitored by AW between January 2022 and June 2024 found that at least 840 women and girls were the victims of gender-based violence, many at the hands of the Taliban. Of these women and girls, at least 332 were killed. These figures likely significantly understate the scale of gender-based violence in Afghanistan, as these issues often go unreported, further underscoring the erasure of women and girls from Afghan society.

Despite the Taliban’s discriminatory policies, and the precarious environment in which women now live in Afghanistan, Afghan women continue to resist the Taliban. They have established libraries,  secret schools, and underground beauty salons. Moreover, those in exile have launched campaigns, protests, and newsrooms, giving a voice to those severely suppressed inside the country.