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Half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month because of the severe restrictions on their movement

35 replies

IwantToRetire · 14/08/2026 02:13

Five years after the Taliban takeover: the normalisation of the exclusion of women and girls in Afghanistan

Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world.

Over the past five years, the de facto authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, institutionalising discrimination and stripping them of their fundamental rights – with profound consequences for their lives and for their communities, according to new UN Women data. In the past year alone, this exclusion of women and girls from education, employment, public life, justice systems, and healthcare has only intensified, entrenching what remains the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis.

This unparalleled crisis of women’s and girls’ rights is at risk of being forgotten by the world.

Full article at https://www.unwomen.org/en/news-stories/press-release/2026/08/five-years-after-the-taliban-takeover-the-normalization-of-the-exclusion-of-women-and-girls-in-afghanistan

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Original poster
IwantToRetire · 16/08/2026 02:13

IwantToRetire · 15/08/2026 22:24

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cmeqezyrvr7dt?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Baol.com%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&page=4

Sorry I messed up that post. It is a BBC short called

'I'll keep believing in my right to a future': Afghan women share stories of life under Taliban rule

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IwantToRetire · 15/08/2026 22:22

Slightly off topic and it may be terrible there is a tv series called Kabul starting on BBC4 tonight which is I think, meant to focus on the impact on families following the takeover by the Taliban.

But as it is make by some joint Euro production team not sure how authentic it will be.

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TonTonMacoute · 15/08/2026 12:11

thenightsky · 14/08/2026 19:52

There must be some men there who don't want to see their daughters, wives and mothers being treated like this. Dying in front of their eyes. Why do they not rise up and says This Is Wrong?

I
The Taliban are clearly such a powerful force I googled some numbers.

The US and British Army trained and armed 250-300,000 Afghan soldiers, some of them up to elite special forces level.

Taliban fighters were estimated to number from 60-100,000. So trained, armed professional Afghan army couldn't prevail over a rag tag guerrilla army only a third of the size?

Frankly the only Afghan refugees we should be welcoming here would be women, I have no time for all the young men who have run off and deserted their women, and have managed to commit so many rapes and sexual assaults on girls in this country. Sorry.

JuliettaCaeser · 15/08/2026 12:08

Barabaric. Women were treated better in Greek and Roman times. Talk about going backwards.

TonTonMacoute · 15/08/2026 12:03

Ramblingnamechanger · 15/08/2026 11:01

Re the men who have left…a rape gang in Norfolk have been convicted…all Afghans . Where I live an Afghan man told me there was no problem for women there.soon after he assaulted a women who worked for him. Hard to trust these men.

An Afghan taxi driver in Scotland has just been convicted of raping a young female passenger. He had been a translator for the British army, one of these so called heros we had to save by bringing them here.

AndyKitten · 15/08/2026 11:53

Ramblingnamechanger · 15/08/2026 10:58

As the country is now starving its citizens , would it be worth offering huge amounts of aid once they respect the rights of women, to be shown by no more killings or flogging, girls allowed to be educated and trained etc? And big publicity , leaflet dropping to show the population that the West is serious. But then I am not convinced that the west is serious about women’s rights either.

The’ve just had 20 years of that and as soon as the Americans left it became even worse.

Army disintegrated, police fled.

I think you are being a little bit naive here.

Notmycircusnotmyotter · 15/08/2026 11:38

buttercup786 · 14/08/2026 22:48

this Is not due to the country being under a religion at all as these rules are not Islamic in the slightest. Our Prophets (pbuh) own wife was a divorced successful business woman with children from a previous marriage. Education of women is encouraged in Islam, women are celebrated and cherished. What you are witnessing with Afghanistan is cultural.

Show quote history

The hellscapes of so many Islamic countries suggests otherwise

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/08/2026 11:16

I think there is a strange idea on these threads that living under the Taliban is great for men. It isn’t. It’s just worse for women. The logic that only the good men leave and come to other countries is flawed.

Ramblingnamechanger · 15/08/2026 11:01

Re the men who have left…a rape gang in Norfolk have been convicted…all Afghans . Where I live an Afghan man told me there was no problem for women there.soon after he assaulted a women who worked for him. Hard to trust these men.

Ramblingnamechanger · 15/08/2026 10:58

As the country is now starving its citizens , would it be worth offering huge amounts of aid once they respect the rights of women, to be shown by no more killings or flogging, girls allowed to be educated and trained etc? And big publicity , leaflet dropping to show the population that the West is serious. But then I am not convinced that the west is serious about women’s rights either.

sillyrubberduck · 15/08/2026 07:23

KnickerlessParsons · 15/08/2026 00:14

Someone on R4 this morning said that if it was a race of people that were being treated like that the world wouldn’t stand for it. But it’s only women 🤷🏼‍♀️

This ! What happens to these girls and women is horrific! Modern slavery to extreme and more. So , so sad 😢

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 15/08/2026 02:29

buttercup786 · 14/08/2026 22:48

this Is not due to the country being under a religion at all as these rules are not Islamic in the slightest. Our Prophets (pbuh) own wife was a divorced successful business woman with children from a previous marriage. Education of women is encouraged in Islam, women are celebrated and cherished. What you are witnessing with Afghanistan is cultural.

Show quote history

I never claimed they were Islamic. As we know many countries around the world have and are taken over by groups (usually men) who say they are the true representative of some religion or the other.

The point I was making is that the way the country is run is based on the idea that one person, as "Supreme" leader can and does issue edicts which others are happy to enforce.

In response to someone say why aren't more men standing up for their wives and daughters.

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KnickerlessParsons · 15/08/2026 00:14

Someone on R4 this morning said that if it was a race of people that were being treated like that the world wouldn’t stand for it. But it’s only women 🤷🏼‍♀️

moto748e · 15/08/2026 00:09

Every thread on MN about Afghanistan is just heart-breaking. And you can't see it it getting better anytime soon.

EmeraldRoulette · 14/08/2026 23:59

Um

I can't be the only person who is puzzled that this is even news? We're talking about Afghanistan here....

Platypusdiver · 14/08/2026 23:56

A friend Kabul told me that there have been men and boys that have stood up against this. They were never seen again. Then the Taliban married or took the women away so men and boys protect women and girls by going to work and keeping head down especially if they are only male in the family Also poverty is widespread and majority of population are under fed malnutrition is widespread life is hell for most people and women have double he’ll

That is horrific. To think of it makes me feel angry and very powerless.

iwishihadaname · 14/08/2026 23:47

thenightsky · 14/08/2026 19:52

There must be some men there who don't want to see their daughters, wives and mothers being treated like this. Dying in front of their eyes. Why do they not rise up and says This Is Wrong?

A friend Kabul told me that there have been men and boys that have stood up against this. They were never seen again. Then the Taliban married or took the women away so men and boys protect women and girls by going to work and keeping head down especially if they are only male in the family Also poverty is widespread and majority of population are under fed malnutrition is widespread life is hell for most people and women have double he’ll

buttercup786 · 14/08/2026 22:48

IwantToRetire · 14/08/2026 20:28

In one of the BBC reports they did talk about this.

So not able to reply is appropriate detail so this is a crude summary.

The current constitution in Afghanistan is that there is a Supreme Leader who is assumed to have the religious understanding to issue edicts and others are meant to follow.

In the interview I heard they talked about they had not anticipating how extreme these edicts would become.

Whether everyone conforms for religious reasons or for fear of knowing that it will be imposed through violence, means that either way women are denied their rights.

And all though not all are reported in the west, there has been on the news reports of the punishment if not death of those who do not obey these edicts.

Am hoping that someone who has a better understanding might explain.

For those of us how have never lived in a country where the country's religion dictates what is or is not allowed it is hard to grasp. Or a country where one man can have an opinion and everyone is meant to do as they say.

Show quote history

this Is not due to the country being under a religion at all as these rules are not Islamic in the slightest. Our Prophets (pbuh) own wife was a divorced successful business woman with children from a previous marriage. Education of women is encouraged in Islam, women are celebrated and cherished. What you are witnessing with Afghanistan is cultural.

Yetanotherone12 · 14/08/2026 22:28

Yetanotherone12 · 14/08/2026 21:41

Or the ones escaping and coming over here do so because they don’t hold those views?

as pp said, disagreeing with the regime tends not to work out well for most.

Show quote history

To add, why would men with those beliefs take the trouble of coming over here to abuse women where it’s illegal and could land them in prison/deported, when they could do it there with no repercussions?

Yetanotherone12 · 14/08/2026 21:41

PropertyD · 14/08/2026 10:45

And these young men come over on boats with these sorts of views.

Or the ones escaping and coming over here do so because they don’t hold those views?

as pp said, disagreeing with the regime tends not to work out well for most.

SwirlyGates · 14/08/2026 20:45

thenightsky · 14/08/2026 19:52

There must be some men there who don't want to see their daughters, wives and mothers being treated like this. Dying in front of their eyes. Why do they not rise up and says This Is Wrong?

Maybe because they get punished too. "Since the beginning of February, at least 61 Afghans, including nine women, have been flogged in sports stadiums packed with ordinary citizens and Taliban officials from the judiciary and administration" So that would be 52 men flogged. "The individuals were accused of adultery, eloping, sodomy and robbery, with many of them also receiving prison sentences ranging from several months to six years." It's not obvious from this article how many of each type of crime there were, nor by which sex.

www.voanews.com/a/men-women-experience-near-daily-floggings-in-afghanistan/7979256.html

Original poster
IwantToRetire · 14/08/2026 20:28

thenightsky · 14/08/2026 19:52

There must be some men there who don't want to see their daughters, wives and mothers being treated like this. Dying in front of their eyes. Why do they not rise up and says This Is Wrong?

In one of the BBC reports they did talk about this.

So not able to reply is appropriate detail so this is a crude summary.

The current constitution in Afghanistan is that there is a Supreme Leader who is assumed to have the religious understanding to issue edicts and others are meant to follow.

In the interview I heard they talked about they had not anticipating how extreme these edicts would become.

Whether everyone conforms for religious reasons or for fear of knowing that it will be imposed through violence, means that either way women are denied their rights.

And all though not all are reported in the west, there has been on the news reports of the punishment if not death of those who do not obey these edicts.

Am hoping that someone who has a better understanding might explain.

For those of us how have never lived in a country where the country's religion dictates what is or is not allowed it is hard to grasp. Or a country where one man can have an opinion and everyone is meant to do as they say.

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