Did you know that five years ago the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan? And with that came restrictions placed on women that most people assumed would be temporary or at the very least, softened over time by international pressure or economic necessity. But the opposite seems to be happening.
Today, Afghan women and girls face some of the most severe restrictions on earth. Girls are barred from secondary school and university Women have been pushed out of most jobs, excluded from politics and increasingly removed from public spaces altogether. The United Nations has described Afghanistan as the world’s most severe women’s rights crisis – and rightfully so.
For much of the world, Afghanistan has become background noise. I mean, as long as it doesn’t concern them, then it is just something happening in a far away land. The headlines arrive in waves and dominate the news cycle for a few days, then disappear just as fast because there is always something bigger and worse than the last big thing that happened.
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Whatever that is happening in Afghanistan is not simply a story about politics or religion. Neither is it about a distant country struggling with its own internal affairs. It is what happens when half a population is systematically pushed out of public life and denied opportunities that much of the world takes for granted. It is also a cautionary tale about how quickly rights can disappear when those in power decide that some citizens deserve fewer freedoms than others.
According to UN Women, Afghanistan is currently the only country in the world where girls are banned from secondary and higher education. Restrictions imposed since 2021 have steadily removed women from public spaces, workplaces, universities, political institutions and even many recreational areas. The result is a society in which millions of women are being told, both directly and indirectly, that their place is no longer in public life.
As Alison Davidian, UN Women Special Representative in Afghanistan, observed during a United Nations briefing:
“Three years ago, a woman in Afghanistan could technically decide to run for president. Today, she may not even be able to decide when to go and buy groceries.”
Few statements capture the scale of the transformation more effectively.
The Gradual Disappearance of Women From Public Life
One of the most troubling aspects of Afghanistan’s situation is that the restrictions did not arrive all at once. Instead, they emerged through a steady stream of decrees and regulations that, taken individually, might have appeared temporary or isolated but collectively produced a dramatic transformation of daily life.
Girls were first barred from secondary education and universities were later closed to women. Women were excluded from many government roles and public facing positions while access to parks, gyms and other public spaces became increasingly restricted. New regulations governing dress, movement and public conduct followed.
The cumulative effect of these measures has been profound.
Today, many Afghan women face severe limitations on where they can go, what they can study, what jobs they can hold and how they participate in society. Human Rights Watch has argued that the restrictions amount to a deliberate effort to exclude women and girls from public life altogether.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that these policies are not merely discriminatory but are fundamentally reshaping Afghan society in ways that could have consequences for generations.
The truth is that the consequences of these restrictions extend far beyond the women directly affected by them.
When girls are denied education, countries lose future teachers, doctors, scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and community leaders. When women are pushed out of the workforce, economies lose talent, innovation, productivity, and tax revenue. When women are excluded from public decision making, governments become less representative of the populations they serve.
Numerous studies conducted around the world have demonstrated that educating girls and increasing women’s participation in economic life contributes directly to improved public health, reduced poverty, stronger institutions and greater economic growth.
Therefore, in as much as this is about faireness, it is also about national development.
A country cannot easily achieve its full potential while systematically sidelining half of its population.
This reality is particularly visible in Afghanistan’s healthcare sector, where restrictions on women’s education have raised concerns about future shortages of female healthcare professionals. In a society where cultural norms often require women to be treated by female practitioners, reducing the pipeline of trained female doctors and nurses creates challenges that ultimately affect entire communities.
The damage extends beyond individual lives and becomes woven into the fabric of society itself.
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The World’s Growing Concern
International organizations have become increasingly vocal about the situation.
In 2025, UN Women described Afghanistan as facing “the world’s most serious women’s rights crisis.” Human rights experts have increasingly used the term “gender apartheid” to describe the systematic nature of the restrictions, arguing that they amount to far more than isolated acts of discrimination.
While “gender apartheid” is not yet formally recognized as a category under international law, advocates contend that the term accurately captures a system in which legal, social and political structures are designed to segregate and subordinate women.
Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that the restrictions were creating what he described as a society in which women are being turned into “shadows.” A description that may sound dramatic, but one that reflects a growing concern among international observers that the issue is no longer merely about individual rights. Instead, it concerns the systematic removal of women from visible participation in society.
The Women Who Refuse to Disappear
We shall not focus on repression alone, because across Afghanistan, women continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience.
There have been rare but significant protests in recent weeks (which is remarkable given the risks involved) with the most notable ones occurring in Herat in June 2026 after Taliban authorities arrested dozens of women for allegedly violating dress code regulations. What began as anger over the arrests grew into broader demonstrations against the restrictions imposed on women. According to the UN and Human Rights Watch, Taliban security forces responded with force, including beatings and gunfire. At least two people, including a child, were reportedly killed and more than 20 injured.
One reason these protests attracted international attention is that large public demonstrations inside Afghanistan have become extremely rare. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, activists, journalists, and protesters have faced arrests, intimidation, and violence, making public dissent extraordinarily dangerous.
Reports from journalists and humanitarian organizations describe women who continue to pursue education through informal networks, online platforms and community initiatives. Others continue supporting their families, organizing local projects or advocating for change despite significant personal risk.
Many of these acts of resistance are quiet rather than dramatic. Small acts of resistance that do not involve large demonstrations or international media coverage. Instead, they involve women refusing to surrender their ambitions or their sense of self despite the barriers placed before them.
History often celebrates grand political movements, but social change is frequently sustained by countless acts of individual courage that never appear on television screens.
Afghan women continue to provide powerful examples of that courage.
It for people across the world to view Afghanistan as a uniquely distant case that bears little relevance to their own lives, but that is where they would be wrong.
The most important lesson from Afghanistan is that rights are often more fragile than people assume.
Throughout history, freedoms that seemed permanent have disappeared under governments of various ideologies, religions and political systems. The erosion often starts with a series of smaller restrictions that are justified as temporary or in the public interest, only for people to realise later how much has been lost.
Afghanistan reminds us that progress should never be taken for granted. The rights to education, employment, political participation, free movement and self expression are not historical inevitabilities, but achievements that require constant protection.
As the world continues to debate geopolitics and diplomacy, millions of Afghan women remain engaged in the struggle to learn, to work, to participate and to be seen.
And these, in my humble opinion, are the true heroes of the world.
