Afghanistan International: United Nations Security Council says Taliban officials and fighters committed sexual violence against women, with United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan documenting 21 cases involving 15 women and six girls in 2025. According to the report, Taliban officials and fighters subjected Afghan women to rape and gang rape. Some victims were also stripped
8am: For more than four years, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls. Alongside these measures, they have also closed criminal and sexual assault cases in ways that favor the accused and harm the victims, often by forcing women into marriage. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: When commanders and fighters from within the group face accusations of sexual relations outside marriage, the Taliban often protect their own. Instead of enforcing the Sharia punishments they claim to uphold, they conceal these acts by imposing forced marriages. These accounts follow earlier findings by the Hasht-e Subh Daily, which documented in multiple reports
8am: Forced marriages and child marriages under the Taliban regime have increased at an unprecedented rate and have become one of the most serious human rights crises. According to sources, the Taliban not only fail to address these cases, but they are themselves a fundamental part of this problem. Click here to read more (external
8am: Several families, devastated economically after the Taliban’s takeover, have been compelled to force their daughters into unwanted marriages or pairings they have no interest in, due to the group’s stringent laws, the absence of clear educational programs, and the fear of forced marriages with Taliban members. Meanwhile, findings by the Hasht-e Subh Daily indicate
aeon: My name is Marjan. In 1996, when the Taliban first took over Afghanistan, I was 12 years old. We lived in Kabul. My father was perpetually unemployed and I could never understand why. While he didn’t do anything to provide for his family, he smoked hashish, which my mother had to pay for. My
Amu: A young woman named Abida died after setting herself on fire in Ghor province, following what her family says was a prolonged campaign of coercion by a local Taliban commander who sought to force her into marriage. Speaking to Amu on condition of anonymity due to safety concerns, a close relative said the commander—identified
The Guardian (UK): It was a normal summer morning in July last year when 19-year-old Samira* made her way to the carpet-weaving shop where she worked in Kabul to pick up her wages. She had no way of knowing that in just a few hours, her life as she knew it would be over. She
Afghanistan International: Local sources in Nangarhar informed Afghanistan International on Sunday, 24 November, that Muqtada had coerced a young woman, who was imprisoned on charges of “running away from home,” into marriage. The woman had allegedly fled from Pakistan to Afghanistan with an unrelated man, for which she was detained by the Taliban. Click here
8am: The [Taliban] commander pointed his weapon at us and shouted, ‘Will you be quiet, or should I silence you myself?’ My daughters’ voices quieted, but they were trembling and silently crying. We sat down without speaking as they ordered. My children tried to hide in my arms out of fear. The commander’s gaze was