KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban intensified their repression of women and girls in Afghanistan in 2025, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a new report, urging governments to pressure the group to end abuses and ensure accountability for serious crimes.
In its World Report 2026, released Tuesday, the New York-based rights group said the Taliban introduced new rules in 2025 that further restricted women’s freedom of movement and access to public spaces while maintaining existing bans on education and employment.
The report highlights increased restrictions on media and civil society. HRW said the Taliban imposed additional restrictions on press freedom and arbitrarily detained critics and individuals accused of violating “morality” laws, including allegations of improper hijab wearing and failure to maintain gender-segregated facilities in workplaces.
Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis deepened in 2025, the report said, due to significant cuts in foreign aid, particularly by the United States, and the forced return of millions of Afghan refugees from neighboring countries. According to the report, over 22 million people faced food insecurity, with women and girls disproportionately affected by shortages of food, healthcare and basic services.
“Governments need to press the Taliban to end their horrific abuses while also alleviating Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis and extending protections to Afghan refugees,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at HRW. “The Taliban’s unrelenting repression should push governments to support efforts to hold all those responsible for serious crimes in Afghanistan to account.”
Human Rights Watch called on governments to continue providing humanitarian assistance, avoid forcibly returning individuals at risk of persecution, and fund and support a new UN investigative mechanism on Afghanistan to promote accountability for serious crimes.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have gradually rolled back the rights of women and girls, beginning with a ban on secondary education. The restrictions later expanded to include universities, most employment, public parks, gyms, long-distance travel without a male guardian, and participation in public and civic life.
UN experts, human rights organizations, and activists have described the Taliban’s policies as a system of gender apartheid, designed to subjugate women and girls based solely on gender. In July 2025, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders, including the group’s leader and chief justice, for the crime against humanity of gender persecution.
The Taliban, however, reject international criticism, claiming their policies are based on Islamic law and Afghan traditions, despite repeated calls from foreign governments, including Muslim-majority countries, and international organizations to lift restrictions on women and girls.
