AHRDO: Taliban Use Flogging to Control Women

Image: Reuters / Pajhwok News Agency

The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO) says in a new report that the Taliban use public flogging as a tool to impose their preferred social order and control women’s lives.

The report says flogging disproportionately affects women and forms part of a broader pattern of restricting their freedom of movement, clothing, private lives and autonomy.

The report, titled “Whips of Power, Spectacle of Control”, was published on Tuesday (25 August) and examines cases of public flogging carried out by the Taliban between 2022 and 2026.

The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization says that as of 21 April 2026, it had documented 633 cases of flogging involving 2,745 people. Of these, 1,761 were men, 422 were women, and the gender of 562 people was unspecified.

The organisation says public flogging is now carried out in all provinces of Afghanistan and that the Taliban use the punishment not only for ordinary crimes, but also to control aspects of people’s private and social lives.

According to the report, women have been arrested and flogged over accusations including leaving home without a mahram, “running away from home”, relationships outside marriage, and violations of dress and social behaviour rules. The practice has also enabled the Taliban to exert greater control over women’s movement, personal relationships and participation in society.

The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization says the “institutionalisation” of flogging disproportionately affects women and that the punishment forms part of a broader process of dismantling the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. According to the organisation, restrictions on women’s movement, clothing, work and social interactions also target their autonomy and private lives.

Women Who Fled Violence Were Punished

The report is also based on 23 victim testimonies, 15 of them from women.

In one case, a woman who was being abused in a forced marriage left home to escape the violence. The Taliban arrested her and sentenced her to 39 lashes and nine months in prison for leaving home without a mahram and for having a relationship with a person whom the Taliban said had helped her escape.

According to testimony recorded in the report, the woman lost consciousness while being flogged, suffered severe wounds and injuries, and received no medical care afterwards. After completing her prison sentence, she was forced into hiding because she feared being killed by her husband.

In another case, a woman suffering from domestic violence went to the Taliban’s vice and virtue department to seek help. Instead of addressing her complaint, Taliban officials accused her of causing conflict within the family and flogged her eight times without a formal trial.

The report also records the account of a woman with an intellectual disability whose family says she was raped by a Taliban member. Her family approached Taliban authorities to file a complaint, but the woman herself was imprisoned on charges of an “extramarital relationship” and sentenced to 20 lashes and two months in prison.

These testimonies show that some women who fled violence, forced marriage or abuse were themselves arrested and punished instead of receiving protection.

Increase in Flogging After Vice and Virtue Law

The report’s findings show that the number of documented flogging cases increased after the Taliban enacted the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in August 2024.

Of the 516 announcements examined in the report, 352, or 68.2 per cent, were issued after the law was enacted. During the same period, 1,391 people were sentenced to flogging, which, according to the figures in this section of the report, represented around 63.4 per cent of the people documented.

The report says the vice and virtue law grants officials of the ministry broad powers to monitor people’s behaviour, clothing and access to services. According to the organisation, these powers form part of a wider system for controlling social life.

Annual figures also show an increase in the use of the punishment. The number of documented announcements rose from 46 in 2022 and 30 in 2023 to 178 in 2024 and 262 in 2025. In less than the first four months of 2026 alone, up to 21 April, another 117 announcements were recorded.

Flogging to Control Private Life

According to the report’s findings, a significant proportion of the punishments relate to behaviour that the Taliban describe as “moral crimes”.

The charge of “adultery” was recorded in 98 judicial rulings, equivalent to around 19 per cent of the rulings reviewed. “Running away from home” appeared in 65 rulings. The report says it found no clear legal basis for criminalising “running away from home” within the legal frameworks it examined.

According to the report, punishing women for “running away from home”, leaving without a mahram or engaging in personal relationships restricts their freedom of movement and private lives. Across the report’s overall figures, accusations related to extramarital relationships and “running away from home” were among the most frequently recorded.

The report also says that threats of flogging and carrying it out in public create an atmosphere of fear and can deter women from moving freely, communicating with others and participating in society.

“Flogging Constitutes Torture”

In its legal analysis, the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization says public flogging violates the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

The organisation also says the evidence reviewed may indicate the commission of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including torture, severe deprivation of liberty, persecution and other inhuman acts.

The Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization called on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to examine evidence relating to these cases as part of its ongoing investigation into Afghanistan.

The organisation also called on the Taliban to completely end flogging and repeal all laws, decrees and directives that enable such punishments and discrimination against women and girls.