Taliban Imprison a Girl Under 18 for Refusing Forced Marriage

© Farzana Wahidy / Human Rights Watch

In its latest quarterly report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, UNAMA has said that the Taliban detained and imprisoned a girl under the age of 18 for refusing to submit to a forced marriage.

The report, published on Sunday (February 8) and covering the period from October to December 2025, states that the teenage girl is being held in one of the Taliban’s provincial prisons. UNAMA did not provide further details about the time of her arrest or the province where she is being detained.

In another part of the report, UNAMA stressed that during this period, multiple cases of gender-based violence, particularly forced marriages, were recorded.

According to the findings of the organisation, Taliban morality police in the province of Herat required women to wear prayer chadors in May and September 2025. The report says that women who defied the order were briefly detained.

The report further states that in early November 2025, women in the city of Herat were also forced to wear the burqa in public places, and women without a burqa were denied access to hospitals, health centres, government offices, and wedding halls.

UNAMA also reported that on 3 October 2025, the Taliban, by imposing restrictions on women’s freedom of movement in Herat, prevented women from entering a women-only Friday market on the 64 Metre Road in the city by firing shots into the air and dispersing the crowd.

The report says that on 6 October 2025, Taliban morality police in Zabul province stopped a group of women who had left their homes for morning exercise and warned them not to leave their homes for this purpose again.

UNAMA also said that on 8 December 2025 in Tarinkot, the capital of Uruzgan province, taxi and coaster drivers were publicly instructed not to allow women without a male guardian to board their vehicles.

The report further states that on 27 December 2025, Taliban morality police in Kandahar city instructed shopkeepers not to sell goods to women who were without a male guardian.

UNAMA added that Taliban morality police in Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces regularly visit health facilities to prevent female patients and female health workers without a male guardian from entering. According to the organisation, this practice has deprived women of access to health services and prevented female health workers from attending their workplaces.