Half of Afghan women rarely leave home as Taliban restrictions deepen, UN agency says
Afghanistan remains the only country in the world to ban girls from secondary education and women from attending university.
Half of Afghan women seldom venture outside their homes due to the Taliban's tightening restrictions on their freedom of movement, according to a recent UN Women report. As the militant group prepares to commemorate the fifth anniversary of their return to power this week, Afghanistan stands alone as the only nation worldwide that prohibits girls from attending secondary school and women from pursuing university education.
Following the Taliban's takeover in August 2021, the rights of half of Afghanistan's population have been systematically eroded, making the country a global outlier with no precedent in modern times, UN Women asserts. The organization's chief spokesperson, Gabriela Cuevas, emphasized that the Taliban-run Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice enforces numerous rules targeting women.
The government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, and the Taliban have not yet commented on the report. Since assuming power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have barred an estimated 2.4 million girls from secondary education, while their authorities have issued over 100 decrees specifically targeting women and girls, institutionalizing discrimination and exacerbating what UN Women describes as the world's most severe women's rights crisis.
According to a door-to-door survey conducted in February and March 2025 and telephone surveys carried out in April and May 2026, more than half of the women surveyed reported leaving their homes only twice a month or less. Additionally, nearly three-quarters of the respondents expressed feelings of insecurity when venturing outdoors without a male guardian, known as a mahram.
The restrictions have also contributed to a deteriorating mental health crisis, with seven in ten women describing their mental health as "bad" or "very bad" due to isolation, loss of opportunities, and limited access to support networks.
Legal protections for women have also deteriorated, as recent decrees have weakened women's legal rights. Measures introduced this year have abolished legal equality between men and women, strengthened men's authority within marriage, and made it more challenging for women to obtain a divorce. Furthermore, women are largely excluded from the economy, with only 7% of women employed compared to 84% of men, as reported by UN Women. The organization's findings are based on the aforementioned door-to-door and telephone surveys.
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