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

Country: Afghanistan Source: UN Women The following facts and figures illustrate how the systematic dismantling of women’s and girls’ rights has reshaped every aspect of life in Afghanistan: Women are unequal before the law: In addition to a broad range of decrees since 2021, key decrees issued in 2026 have further restricted women’s and girls’ access to justice and stripped them of equal status and protection under the law. Decree no. 12 abolishes legal equality between men and women before the law, placing husban