3 weeks ago
Half of Afghan Women Rarely Leave Home, UN Agency Reports
Afghanistan is a country where the Taliban group is in charge.
Since the Taliban came back to power five years ago, they have made many strict rules for women and girls.
Because of these rules, many women can hardly ever go outside.
A big organization called U.N. Women asked thousands of Afghan women how they were doing.
They found that half of the women leave home only once or twice a month.
Afghanistan is also the only country in the world where girls cannot go to high school or women to university.
Most women do not have jobs, so they stay at home.
Many women said they feel sad, scared, and lonely because of the rules.
The Taliban says it is following its own religious rules and Afghan culture.
U.N. Women says these are the harshest limits on women anywhere in the world.
Half of Afghan women now leave home only once or twice a month, according to data released by U.N. Women.
Afghanistan remains the only country in the world to ban girls from secondary education and women from university.
U.N. Women says the Taliban have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls since taking power in 2021.
Nearly three-quarters of women surveyed said they felt unsafe going out without a male guardian, known as a mahram.
Only 7% of Afghan women are employed compared with 84% of men, according to the report.
- Who
- U.N. Women, which issued the report; the Taliban-led government of Afghanistan; and Afghan women affected by the restrictions.
- What
- A U.N. Women report showing that half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month as Taliban-imposed restrictions deepen.
- Where
- Afghanistan; the U.N. Women statement was announced in Geneva.
- When
- The data was released on Wednesday, August 12, ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Taliban's return to power; surveys were conducted from February to March 2025 and April to May 2026.
- Why
- The Taliban have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls since 2021, restricting their movement, education, employment, and legal protections.
Human rights and gender equality view
Taliban's religious and cultural view
Assessment of women's rights in Afghanistan
Human rights and gender equality view
U.N. Women says Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, calling it the world's most severe women's rights crisis with no parallel in the modern world.
Taliban's religious and cultural view
The Taliban argue they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture.
Justification for restrictions
Human rights and gender equality view
U.N. Women says more than 100 decrees institutionalise discrimination, curtail freedom of movement, and weaken women's legal protections, including abolishing legal equality between men and women.
Taliban's religious and cultural view
The Taliban-run Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice enforces the government's rules on women, which the government frames as consistent with its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture.
Key facts
- Women leaving home twice a month or less
- More than half of women surveyed by U.N. Women
- Girls barred from secondary education
- Estimated 2.4 million since 2021 (UNESCO)
- Decrees targeting women and girls
- More than 100 since the Taliban took power
- Women feeling unsafe without a male guardian
- Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents
- Women rating mental health 'bad' or 'very bad'
- 7 in 10 women
- Employment gap
- 7% of women employed vs 84% of men
- Recent legal changes
- Abolished legal equality between men and women; made divorce harder for women
- Survey sample
- 2,190 door-to-door interviews (Feb-Mar 2025) and 2,811 telephone interviews (Apr-May 2026)
Quotes
U.N. Women
Representative of the United Nations Women agency
“"Half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month as Taliban-imposed restrictions curtail their freedom of movement and participation in public life, according to data released by U.N. Women on Wednesday."”
theprint.in
“"The Taliban have barred an estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls from secondary education since they regained power in 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization said on Tuesday."”
theprint.in
Sources
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