New Taliban Divorce Regulation Raises Alarms Over Child Marriage and Women’s Rights

The Guardian reports that the Taliban government, through the adoption of a new divorce regulation, has implicitly legalized child marriage while imposing heavy legal restrictions on Afghan women and girls…

This new legal framework stipulates that if a girl claims she has been forced into early marriage, she will have no right to request a divorce or seek justice if her husband opposes it or if she is compelled to remain silent. This provision has elicited deep concern and backlash from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which has characterized it as another step towards the erasure of women’s autonomy.

Human rights activists are warning that this law, alongside the ongoing ban on girls’ education, is exacerbating the prevalence of forced marriages under the age of 18, which has reportedly risen to over 60%. Without support structures in place, victims are left vulnerable to deadly domestic violence.