Without education and employment: 50% of women in Afghanistan do not leave the house
A report by UN Women reveals the dire situation of women living under the Taliban. Half of the women who responded to a survey claimed they leave their homes twice a month or less. Only 7% of women in the country are employed, and for many who are left without family, this is a critical situation.
Half of Afghan women currently leave their homes only once or twice a month, as restrictions imposed by the Taliban limit their freedom of movement and participation in public life, according to data published today (Wednesday) by UN Women.
While the Taliban prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of their return to power this week, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world that bans girls from secondary education and women from attending university, the UN agency promoting gender equality stated.
"Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world," UN Women said in a statement.
Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which enforces many of the government's rules on women, told Reuters that reports of women not feeling safe leaving their homes were false and that women in the country have access to all their rights.
"This is the first time in about 50 years that all citizens of Afghanistan feel they are living in safety and security," he said, adding that the situation of women's rights in the country is moving in a "positive direction." The Taliban have prevented about 2.4 million Afghan girls from receiving secondary education since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said on Tuesday.
UN Women said that Taliban authorities have issued more than 100 edicts targeting women and girls since taking power, which has institutionalized discrimination and deepened what it described as the most serious women's rights crisis in the world.
The Taliban claim they respect women's rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan culture. More than half of the women surveyed by the UN agency reported that they leave the house twice a month or less, while nearly three-quarters said they feel unsafe going out without a male guardian, known as a mahram.
Restrictions have also led to a worsening mental health crisis, according to the UN agency. Seven out of 10 women described their mental health as "poor" or "very poor," citing isolation, loss of opportunities, and limited access to support networks. The agency warned that recent edicts have further weakened women's legal protections. Measures introduced this year have abolished legal equality between men and women before the law, strengthened the authority of men in marriage, and made it harder for women to seek divorce, it said.
Women also remain largely excluded from the economy. Only 7% of women are employed compared to 84% of men, according to the UN Women report. The agency said its report is based on a door-to-door survey of 2,190 people from February to March 2025 and telephone surveys of 2,811 people conducted between April and May 2026.
