Image: UN Photo/Christophe Verhellen Marking the 25th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on “Women, Peace, and Security,” the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has called on the Taliban to ensure the full participation of women in Afghanistan’s public, political, and economic life and to uphold the country’s international commitments regarding women’s rights. In a statement released on Thursday (October 30), Georgette Gagnon, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan, said: “In Afghanistan, the principles of Resolution 1325 matter now more than ever. Afghan women have consistently demonstrated remarkable courage, leadership, and resilience in the face of adversity.” She added that despite being stripped of their fundamental rights, millions of Afghan women continue to support their families, educate children, and contribute to their communities, keeping hope for a better future alive. UNAMA stressed that the meaningful participation of women in all areas of life, particularly in political and social decision-making, is essential for Afghanistan’s stability and legitimacy. The mission urged the Taliban to adhere to Afghanistan’s international obligations and allow women to once again play an active role in society. Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls above the sixth grade are banned from education, and women are prohibited from working, travelling, and participating in most public and political spheres under Taliban rule.

Image Source: pajhwok The Taliban’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Kunar province has claimed that, with the cooperation of religious scholars and tribal elders, it prevented a forced marriage and rescued a woman from domestic violence. According to the department, in the Nari district of Kunar, members of a family attempted to marry off a young girl to a middle-aged man without her consent, but the “intervention of the Taliban” and efforts by local elders allegedly stopped the forced marriage. In another case, a woman who had suffered domestic violence for years was reportedly freed from her difficult situation with the support and follow-up of the Taliban’s virtue and vice office. However, this claim comes as forced and underage marriages have dramatically increased in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Reports by international organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and UNICEF, indicate that Taliban-imposed restrictions on women’s education, employment, and social participation have contributed to the rise in forced marriages. According to these reports, more than one-third of Afghan girls are now trapped in forced marriages, many of which involve Taliban members or take place under pressure from the group’s policies. This year, several cases of forced marriage to Taliban members were reported. In April, a girl in Ghor province set herself on fire and died to escape being forced into marriage with a Taliban member. Similar incidents have been documented in Herat, Sar-e Pul, and Baghlan provinces, including cases of threats and violence against families who refused to marry off their daughters to Taliban fighters.

Social Media The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that two women and three men were publicly flogged in Ghor and Balkh provinces on charges of “moral corruption” and “alcohol trafficking.” According to a statement released by the court on Wednesday (October 29), four people, including two women, were flogged 39 times each in Ghor province’s sports stadium in the presence of local officials, Taliban forces, and members of the public. In Balkh province, a man was also flogged in public on charges of “transporting alcoholic beverages.” Human rights organisations have repeatedly warned that punishments such as public flogging and executions violate human dignity and contravene international human rights obligations. Despite this, the Taliban continue to enforce such punishments based on their own interpretation of Sharia.

Seven people, including a woman, were injured in a traffic accident on the Samangan–Balkh highway. The incident occurred on Tuesday noon (October 28) in Khulm district of Samangan province. According to Taliban security officials in Samangan, a Corolla vehicle collided with a Fielder vehicle , resulting in injuries to seven people. Hashmatullah Rahmani, the Taliban’s police spokesperson in Samangan, said the injured were taken to the provincial hospital and are currently under medical care. The cause of the accident has been attributed to driver negligence and failure to follow traffic rules. Traffic incidents in Afghanistan always to claim lives regularly, with the absence of traffic signs, poor road conditions, and reckless driving cited as the main contributing factors.

Photo: ILOAfghanistan/x The International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced that it has provided practical business skills training to 25 women recovered from drug addiction in Ghazni province. The initiative, according to the organisation, aims to rebuild self-confidence, promote economic empowerment, and support these women’s reintegration into society. In a message issued on Wednesday (October 29), the ILO said that the training was not limited to business skills but also intended to help women rebuild their lives with renewed hope and purpose. This initiative comes amid a growing drug addiction crisis among women and girls in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power. Social and economic restrictions and reduced access to healthcare services are cited as key factors behind the rise in addiction. According to figures released by the Taliban, more than one million women and children in Afghanistan are addicted to drugs. The Taliban have transferred many of these women to prisons for drug rehabilitation.

Photo: Getty Images/BBC The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest report, says the Taliban have instructed health facilities not to treat women who are unaccompanied by a male guardian (mahram). UNAMA released its quarterly report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan on Tuesday (28 October). According to the report, Taliban agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice regularly visit medical facilities across the country to check whether “gender segregation, hijab compliance, and the presence of a mahram” are being observed for female patients and female health workers. UNAMA said that in the provinces of Uruzgan, Kandahar, and Paktika, the Taliban have ordered hospitals and health centres to refuse treatment to women without a mahram. In Kandahar, officials from the Taliban’s virtue and vice department instructed the provincial health directorate to ensure that all health facilities allow female staff to work only if accompanied by a mahram who must remain with them throughout their working hours. Taliban vice and virtue agents in Kandahar have also warned dental clinics that male doctors are not allowed to treat female patients and that if they wish to provide services for women, they must hire female doctors; even though the Taliban have banned women from studying medicine and dentistry.

Social Media The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest quarterly report on the human rights situation in the country, has said that over the past three months, more than 240 people have been flogged in public by the Taliban on various charges. According to the report, released on Tuesday (28 October), between 1 July and the end of September this year, at least 242 people, including 48 women and two teenage girls, were flogged in public. UNAMA said Taliban courts convicted these individuals on charges such as “running away from home,” “telephone contact with a non-mahram man,” “theft,” “adultery,” and “murder.” The report also noted that in August, in the city of Herat, Taliban police displayed the body of a man they had killed in public at the Kandahar Gate area. According to UNAMA, the body was first paraded through the city on a Police vehicle and then hung from the barrel of an old tank. The motive and reason for the killing remain unclear. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the group has systematically used corporal punishments, including flogging, as a tool to instil fear and suppress the population. The United Nations has described these punishments as a grave violation of human rights and has called on the Taliban to immediately end such practices.

Source: igamingexpress.com According to Dutch media reports, the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) of the Netherlands has rejected the asylum applications of two Afghan women, stating that they can live under Taliban rule. One of the women is 79 years old. The Hague court had rejected her deportation in August, but the immigration authorities have maintained their position, and her case is now in the appeals process. The second woman, aged 59, currently works in the Netherlands and is socially active, yet Dutch officials have argued that she does not face a specific threat. Regarding one of the women, the IND stated: “Before leaving Afghanistan, she mostly stayed at home, so she can live in Afghanistan again.” This decision comes despite the fact that the Dutch government, along with Germany, Canada, and Austria, filed a formal complaint against the Taliban at the International Court of Justice in The Hague last year, describing the group’s policies against women as a “clear violation of human rights.” The Netherlands had called the isolation imposed on Afghan women and girls “heartbreaking.” Human rights defenders have strongly criticised the Dutch government’s decision, calling it deeply inconsistent with the country’s stated position. They argue that returning Afghan women at a time when education, employment, travel, and even healthcare are banned for women in Afghanistan constitutes a violation of the fundamental international legal principle of non-refoulement; the prohibition against returning individuals to danger.

Photo: AFP The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest quarterly report, says that the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has expanded the enforcement of its restrictive decrees to an unprecedented level in recent months, severely affecting the daily lives of Afghan women and girls. According to the report, released on Tuesday (28 October), agents from the ministry have launched campaigns in Kabul and Herat to compel women to observe the “mandatory hijab,” using threats, arbitrary arrests, and coercion to impose the rule. UNAMA reports that between 16 and 19 July, more than 60 women and girls were arrested in Kabul on charges of “violating the hijab decree.” They were released only after their male relatives signed written guarantees. In Herat, between 15 and 19 September, Taliban vice and virtue officers set up checkpoints in the Jebrael area to inspect women’s hijab. A week later, they detained a group of women for not wearing the chador and released them only after their relatives brought them one. Alongside the enforcement of compulsory hijab, the requirement for women to be accompanied by a male guardian (mahram) has become a major barrier to their access to social services and freedom of movement. UNAMA reported that Taliban forces in Farah, Uruzgan, and Kandahar provinces have prevented women from shopping in markets without a mahram. In one case in Kandahar, a bus driver and a travel agency employee refused to sell tickets to two women travelling without a male guardian, saying they had been ordered by the vice and virtue department not to provide transport services to women travelling alone. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, compulsory hijab and the mahram requirement have become key tools of control over women and girls in Afghanistan. The policy of enforcing a male escort, based on the Taliban’s strict interpretation of Sharia, has effectively excluded unmarried, widowed, and unaccompanied women from movement and public life.

Wakil Kohsar/AFP The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in its latest quarterly report on the human rights situation in the country, has reported an escalation of restrictions imposed on women by the Taliban. According to the report, released on Tuesday (28 October), Taliban forces have been stationed at the entrances of UN offices in Kabul and other provinces since 7 September 2025 to prevent women from entering. UNAMA stated that as a result, female staff members have been forced to work from home. The mission stressed that this move enforces the Taliban’s directive of 5 April 2023, which bans Afghan women from working for UN offices. UNAMA also reported an increase in educational restrictions on girls and women, noting that in recent months the Taliban have closed down even religious schools, which had been the only remaining spaces for girls’ education. According to the mission, in August, Taliban agents from the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Kabul shut down three girls’ religious schools for teaching what they described as “modern secular subjects” such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry. In Badakhshan and Paktika provinces, the Taliban have also ordered that girls above the ages of 10 or 13 are no longer permitted to attend religious schools.