Taliban Enforces Restrictions on Unmarried and Unaccompanied Afghan Women, UN Reports

Women's Access to Work, Travel, and Healthcare Severely Limited; Arrests Made for Buying Contraception

The Taliban are enforcing restrictions on Afghan women's access to work, travel, and healthcare if they are unmarried or without a male guardian, according to a recent UN report.
Women have been barred from most areas of public life and girls have been stopped from going to school beyond the sixth grade as part of the harsh measures imposed by the Taliban since taking power in 2021.
Three female healthcare workers were detained last October for going to work without a male guardian. They were released after their families signed a written guarantee that they would not repeat the act.
In Paktia province, the Vice and Virtue Ministry has stopped women without male guardians from accessing health facilities since December, and the ministry is enforcing hijab and male guardian requirements when women visit public places, offices, and education institutes.
Women have also been arrested for buying contraception, which the Taliban has not officially banned.