KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Afghanistan Human Rights Center (AHRC) reported that the Taliban’s education ban has resulted in a sharp rise in child and forced marriages, with schoolgirls being the main victims.
In a report titled “Access to Education for Women Under the Taliban” released on Monday, the rights group revealed that 66% of the victims of forced and early marriages were schoolgirls, with the remainder being university students.
The findings, based on interviews with victims, experts, and activists, also highlight alarming increases in domestic violence, mental health issues, and depression among women and girls as a result of the education ban.
Among those interviewed, 83% reported suffering physical violence at the hands of family members, 91% said they struggled with mental health issues, and 25% had attempted self-harm, including suicide.
The report also pointed out that Taliban members have exploited the situation, coercing young women and girls into marriage. “51% of these forced and underage marriages were carried out by local commanders and fighters of the Taliban,” the report noted, adding that many victims who married ordinary men did so to avoid the greater risk of being forcibly wed to Taliban fighters.
One victim, Momena (a pseudonym), who was forced to marry a Taliban fighter in Takhar province, shared that she knew 10 classmates from her village who had been forced into marriages against their will.
Hamida, a 15-year-old girl from Badakhshan, was forced to marry a Taliban member 23 years older than her, and already married twice before. “This forced life is very difficult for me, but I have no choice. I can never talk to my husband about my problems because he is very harsh and angry,” Hamida said. She added that she had attempted suicide several times.
The rights group urged the United Nations and its member states to take decisive steps to end the Taliban’s violations of human rights, especially those affecting women and girls. It also called on the International Criminal Court (ICC), currently investigating Afghanistan, to include the systematic denial of girls’ education in its case.
The AHRC appealed to developed countries to provide educational opportunities for Afghan women and girls, including scholarships and online capacity-building initiatives.
Since regaining power in Afghanistan, the Taliban has imposed severe restrictions on women’s rights, barring them from education, work, and public life. UN experts, rights groups, Afghan women, and activists have condemned the Taliban’s policies as “gender apartheid” and are calling for these actions to be classified as crimes against humanity.
In a related development, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has filed an application for arrest warrants against the Taliban Supreme Leader and Chief Justice, citing evidence that these individuals were involved in gender-based persecution in Afghanistan. prosecutor Khan has also said that similar actions will be taken against other senior Taliban leaders in the near future.
