Half of Afghan women rarely leave home, says UN agency

Half of Afghan women rarely venture outside their homes, leaving only once or twice a month as Taliban-imposed restrictions severely limit their freedom of movement and public participation, according to a recent UN Women report. The Taliban, set to commemorate the fifth anniversary of their return to power, have implemented a series of decrees that systematically erode the rights of half the Afghan population, making the country a global outlier with no precedent in modern history.

UN Women, which champions gender equality, revealed that the majority of women surveyed felt unsafe without a male companion, known as a mahram, while nearly three-quarters reported experiencing mental health issues due to isolation, loss of opportunities, and restricted support networks. The agency stressed that recent Taliban decrees have further undermined women's legal rights, including abolishing legal equality, strengthening men's authority within marriage, and making divorce more difficult.

Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, dismissed reports of women's reluctance to leave their homes, claiming that Afghanistan now enjoys safety and security for all citizens. However, the UN agency remains unconvinced, highlighting the Taliban's issuance of over 100 decrees targeting women and girls and their prohibition of secondary education for an estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls since 2021.

While women's employment rates remain dismally low at just 7%, only 84% of men are employed, according to UN Women's findings. The agency's report, based on door-to-door and telephone surveys conducted in 2025 and 2026, underscores the dire situation of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, with only a small minority finding relative safety and security in their daily lives.