Since August 2021, the status of women in Afghanistan has frequently been discussed in terms of “restrictions” and “rights rollbacks.” This happened shortly after the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the government under the Taliban, was formed. Despite the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s assertions of moderation, women and girls are once again disappearing from public and social spheres. Following the government’s return to power, women and girls protested in the streets, only to face violence, arbitrary detention, and killings, including that of former Member of Parliament Mursal Nabizada.
While the language of “restrictions” is accurate, it risks understating both the scale and intent of What is unfolding is not just a series of isolated or temporary policies; it is a systematic governance project designed to exclude women from public, economic, and political spheres entirely. The situation in Afghanistan exemplifies gender apartheid, an institutionalised system that oppresses women purely based on their gender.
From protest to policy: understanding the structure of exclusion.
Shortly after regaining power in August 2021, the government prohibited girls from secondary school and later expanded restrictions to higher education, employment, and most areas of public life. Following their initial press conference, the group outlined its vision: schools were closed, a compulsory hijab was mandated, and women were barred from working in most fields except for limited roles in primary education and healthcare.
Under its rule, women’s rights have been systematically curtailed through a complex mix of decrees and informal norms. Girls are prohibited from attending school, women are not allowed to work, and their voices are often suppressed. Books authored by women are banned, and control over bodily autonomy is strict. Rules about mobility increasingly require male guardians, and women’s presence in public life, whether through media, protests, or daily activities, has been severely restricted. Additionally, women’s ability to engage in paid work has been drastically limited, with clear bans on employment with NGOs and UN agencies.
Individually, each of these measures can be seen as a “restriction.” However, collectively, they serve as something much more drastic: the systematic stripping away of women as social and legal subjects.
Education is the cornerstone of erasure.
The education ban is a central part of this governance approach. About 2.2 million adolescent girls in Afghanistan remain barred from attending secondary school due to Taliban restrictions. In a joint statement, UN agencies highlighted that Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls and women are completely denied access to both secondary and higher education.
On January 24, the International Day of Education, the global community emphasised the severity of the crisis. UNICEF and UNESCO’s statement highlighted a widespread learning crisis, noting that 93% of children who complete primary school cannot reach basic reading levels. This underscores the urgent need to fund early literacy and numeracy initiatives, a challenge that worsens when girls are excluded. The long-term consequences are stark. Afghanistan urgently needs female teachers, nurses, community health workers, and doctors.
Gender erasure and state capacity
Too often, the issue of Afghan women is seen solely as a moral or humanitarian concern, disconnected from governance and development issues. This perspective is dangerously narrow. Leaving half the population excluded from education, employment, and public participation directly weakens the state’s capacity.
Healthcare systems are weakened when female doctors and nurses are prevented from training or from working. Education systems suffer when girls are restricted from attending school, and female teachers are dismissed. Humanitarian efforts are constrained when women aid workers, who are often crucial to reaching female beneficiaries, are prohibited from operating.
The economic impacts are just as serious. Afghanistan was already facing severe poverty and a financial crisis. Keeping women out of the workforce further reduces household income, decreases productivity, and heightens dependence on aid. Rather than stabilising the country, systemic gender exclusion undermines its stability.
Ideology versus social reality
Under the Taliban state, the ultimate authority belongs to Hibatullah Akhundzada, who is responsible only to Allah and is beyond challenge. This gives them the power to rule through charismatic authoritarianism. Additionally, despite having substantial evidence of ongoing breaches of international standards and rights, the officials deny these violations and wrongdoing.
On International Women’s Day, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid stated that “protecting the dignity, honour, and Sharia-based rights of women remains a top priority,” asserting that all fundamental rights are protected under Islamic law and Afghan tradition. However, many Afghans and Muslim communities strongly dispute this claim.
A nationwide door-to-door survey of over 2,000 Afghans revealed that 92 per cent consider it important for girls to pursue their education, with support coming from both rural and urban areas. This indicates that the exclusion of women is driven by political ideology rather than social consensus.
The humanitarian paradox
The international response to Afghanistan exposes a profound and ongoing contradiction. While global actors keep providing humanitarian aid to prevent mass starvation and economic collapse, de facto authorities are simultaneously actively blocking women from participating in or even reaching many forms of aid mechanisms.
This creates a paradox in which humanitarian organisations must negotiate with a state that fundamentally hampers their ability to function effectively. Aid is provided in a context where women are deliberately kept out of decision-making, employment, and visibility. The question is seldom asked outright: Can humanitarian efforts succeed if governance is explicitly anti-women?
Agency of Women under Governance
Despite intense repression, Afghan women are not merely passive victims. Throughout the country, they persist in resisting erasure through silent, risky acts of defiance. Underground schools run in private homes, and informal networks exchange resources, knowledge, and emotional support. When digital platforms are available, they serve as spaces for testimony and solidarity. Even silence can act as a form of protest, especially where visibility could lead to punishment.
Recognising this agency is essential. It contests stories that depict Afghan women only as helpless victims waiting for rescue and instead highlights them as political agents operating within a setting aimed at erasing their presence.
Rethinking development and policy responses
Afghanistan prompts a re-evaluation within development and policy circles. Gender equality is frequently seen as a cross-cutting issue, important but secondary to economic growth, stability, or security. The situation in Afghanistan reveals the shortcomings of this perspective. When gender exclusion becomes the foundation of governance, development efforts that overlook it lose coherence.
The crisis also reveals the shortcomings of technocratic solutions. No amount of aid optimisation or delivery efficiency can compensate for a system that actively removes women from society. Development strategies that fail to confront institutionalised gender erasure risk becoming complicit in normalising it.
Conclusion: the cost of erasing half a population
The situation faced by women in Afghanistan is not just a human rights disaster; it also represents a severe governance crisis with worldwide consequences. Systematic gender discrimination undermines government effectiveness, reinforces poverty, distorts humanitarian efforts, and normalises exclusion as a policy approach.
The question, then, is not whether the international community should care about Afghan women; it is whether it can afford not to. A society built on the systematic disappearance of half its population cannot be stable, prosperous, or just. Until this reality is directly confronted, efforts to address Afghanistan’s crisis will remain partial, fragile, and ultimately unsustainable.
