KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban are using restrictions on women’s rights to entrench their rule in Afghanistan while also fueling extremism through the expansion of religious schools and the indoctrination of the younger generation, a report has concluded.
The study, titled “Echoes of Alarm: Afghan Women’s Testimonies of Gender Apartheid and the Growing Threat of Religious Extremism,” was produced by the Canada-based nonprofit organization Farageer. It was formally presented at the United Kingdom’s House of Lords on Monday, May 18.
According to the report, the Taliban, like other extremist groups, deliberately curtail women’s rights as a means of exerting social control and consolidating power in Afghanistan’s fragmented political landscape.
The report said education has been used as a key tool for indoctrination, adding that exposure to what it described as the Taliban’s misogynistic extremist ideology is not limited to boys and young men but also extends to girls and young women.
Data from the Taliban’s own Ministry of Education, cited in the report, shows the number of religious schools (madrassas) has surged to 22,972, enrolling more than three million students. This compares with about 5,000 such institutions before the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. In the past four years, the group has constructed just 269 modern schools, resulting in 85 new religious schools for every modern one built.
The findings are based on extensive interviews with more than 700 Afghans, including 600 women, conducted across 14 provinces. According to the report, 76% of respondents believe their society has become significantly more extremist since 2021.
Despite widespread fear, anxiety and despair, the report highlights the remarkable resilience of Afghan women and girls, who continue to find ways to resist repression and maintain hope for the future.
Farageer urged Muslim-majority countries and Islamic religious scholars to actively challenge the Taliban’s interpretation of Islam and reject the misuse of Sharia law to justify what the report describes as “gender apartheid.”
It also called on UN member states to treat “gender extremism” as a component of global counterterrorism policy and to provide greater financial and political support to Afghan women, girls, and civil society organizations, including access to international decision-making forums.
Speaking at the event, Baroness Fiona Hodgson, a member of the House of Lords, expressed deep concern over the Taliban’s discriminatory policies, warning they have pushed Afghanistan into a profound crisis. She stressed that Afghan women’s fundamental rights must not be sidelined and should remain central in international discussions.
Other participants, including Afghan civil society representatives, activists, and former government officials, echoed these concerns and appealed to the UN and the broader international community to take urgent action before the situation worsens further.
Nargis Nehan, Afghanistan’s former Minister of Mines and Petroleum and founder of Farageer, told the gathering that the Taliban have “fearlessly and officially embedded discrimination against women into their system of governance” and criminalized all forms of thought, protest, and opposition. She urged the international community to recognize and criminalize the Taliban’s systematic discrimination as a “crime against humanity.”
