Three Years Under Taliban Rule
Since the Taliban's return to power on August 15, 2021, women and girls in Afghanistan have been subjected to a relentless series of decrees that have systematically dismantled their rights. Each year has seen an escalation in the oppression of women, with devastating consequences for their lives, their freedoms, and their futures.
If you’ve been following Free to Run for a while, you’ll know that women and girls were forbidden from participating in sport in 2021, forcing us to suspend our operations in Afghanistan and evacuate our program staff. Since 2022, Free to Run has been delivering our clandestine ‘Omid’ program (indoor strength training and mental resilience sessions) delivered in secret to provide at least some small sense of hope and community for the young women who have been effectively trapped in their homes.
But now in 2024, three years since the Taliban retook control of the country, the situation for women and girls has continued to deteriorate. Below are some of the most egregious decrees and actions taken by the Taliban over the past three years.
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Ordered women to stay indoors at home because Taliban soldiers are ‘not trained to respect women’.
Banned girls from secondary education, effectively ending their education beyond primary school. This marked the beginning of a systematic effort to erase women from educational institutions.
Banned co-education in universities and other educational institutions, requiring gender segregation and prohibiting men from teaching girls. This policy created additional barriers for women, as many institutions lacked the resources to provide separate classes for female students.
Dismantled the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, which had been a key government body advocating for women’s rights, and created the “Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice”.
Banned women from traveling more than 72 km/45 miles from home without a mahram (male guardian). This severely limited women’s ability to move freely and participate in public life.
Shut down women’s shelters, which provided refuge for those fleeing domestic violence.
Barred women from appearing in TV dramas and other entertainment programs.
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Banned women from entering healthcare facilities without a mahram, with reports of women being denied treatment unless accompanied by a male guardian.
Banned women from working in offices or for international NGOs, a move that severely impacted the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Banned women from traveling abroad without a mahram and a legitimate reason.
Stopped issuing driver’s licenses to women and banned women from public transport without a mahram.
Intensified their enforcement of strict dress codes, requiring women to wear a full burqa in public.
Directed employees of the Ministry of Finance to send a male relative to take their jobs if they want to be paid their salaries.
Ordered female university students to cover their faces in classrooms and blocked women from choosing agriculture, mining, civil engineering, veterinary medicine, and journalism as their university majors. The Taliban said these subjects are too difficult for women.
In December, the Taliban eventually extended their education ban by banning women from public and private universities in Afganistan.
Banned a group of 100 female students from boarding a flight to pursue further university education (on full academic scholarships) in Dubai.
Banned women and girls from parks, gyms, and other public spaces - effectively isolating them from society.
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Banned women from visiting historic places.
Instructed travel agencies not to sell tickets to women without a mahram.
Instructed women working in Kabul hospitals to wear black hijab and mask at all times.
Invalidated thousands of divorce cases that were decided during the Afghan Republic.
Banned issuing transcripts and certificates for female university graduates.
Banned girls and women from going to health centers and cemeteries, claiming that “women/girls wear makeup when they go to these places and pretend they are ill”.
Ordered all beauty salons to close, destroying the ability of approximately 60,000 women to earn an income. This was done to “prevent economic hardship for the families of grooms” during wedding festivities.
Warned women against using Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and other media tools.
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Announced it was reinstating flogging and death by stoning for women, saying, "the Taliban's work did not end with the takeover of Kabul, it has only just begun."
Capped salaries of all women, irrespective of the nature of their work, experience, and seniority - at 5,000 Afghanis (around $70) per month. That’s a drop of about 75% for many women, who are already only allowed to work in jobs that cannot be done by men under Sharia law - including teachers, nurses, and doctors.
The oppression of Afghan women under the Taliban has deepened each year, with increasingly brutal and restrictive decrees stripping them of their rights, freedoms, and dignity. These policies have pushed Afghan women to the margins of society, erasing decades of progress and forcing them into lives of fear and isolation.
At Free to Run, we are committed to standing behind Afghan girls and women, amplifying their voices, and continuing to deliver the programming that has offered a critical point of community, connection, and physical and mental resilience to so many young women.
After three years, this is how they’re feeling.
“I am K. I graduated from a journalism program and used to work for a television station. I spent my time with enthusiasm and energy because my goal was clear: to be a journalist. I felt as free as the men in Afghanistan, despite being a girl. I promised myself I would achieve many things for my family and country. I am also interested in sports, especially running. In short, my profession was like a passion for me and still is, but with the arrival of this government, all my wishes have been left behind. I don’t even have a choice of clothes—wherever I go, I must wear only black. I am not allowed to go out without a Mahram. My daily life is becoming harder due to the lack of freedom. I am limited to staying home, doing housework, and cooking. Everything has changed in an instant. I wanted to achieve my goals and become a role model for young women, but now I am confined to washing, cleaning, and cooking - and that’s it.”
“Since the change of government, girls and women have been deprived of their right to education, work, development, and freedom, and all women have stayed at home. In these few years I have endured many hardships. Even now, after a few years, I cannot finish school and graduate - maybe this will remain an unattainable dream for me. I can’t go to courses safely, I’m afraid that something might happen to me. I have no hope of continuing my education, I have stayed at home forever. Doing nothing is just hopeless, and day to day you begin to feel you’re not useful anymore.”
“I am F, and I was a school student. I had such wonderful days. In the morning, I would wake up with a goal: going to school. I would get up happy and full of energy, wash my face, have breakfast, put on my school uniform, and grab my bag, ready to go to school with my friends. It was so pleasant to enter the school, greet my teachers and classmates, and start our lessons. After school, I would attend various courses. I enjoyed those days, but they passed too quickly. Now, those days are just a dream. I had real motivation back then, but now I can’t have those days even for a single day. The school doors are closed to me and my friends, and I can’t attend the courses I used to. Now, I wake up in the mornings without happiness or a goal. For three years, I have been at home with no activities. Some days I read books or write about my good days on paper. Life without a goal is so hard, but I pass through this difficult period with hope for the future, hoping for a day when I can achieve my goals and go to school or university again.”
“When the Taliban took over the government, I knew very well that they were long-standing enemies of women and girls, misogynistic people who saw women as inferior and submissive. This left me with countless unanswered questions about the future. What about us girls? What about all my efforts to reach my goals? Does this mean I have to abandon all my goals? This was unacceptable to me, but I still had hope and was searching for a way to escape this outdated society. I couldn’t accept being a slave. Every morning, I prayed that it was all a nightmare. It wasn’t, and I had to face the reality. I tried to adapt to the Taliban’s rules but wasn’t yet disheartened. I managed to find a job in a hospital’s children’s department, which made me happy. However, seeing girls around me who no longer have the right to education and choose their futures fills me with deep sadness. When I saw a thirteen-year-old mother whose child died in her arms, with no reaction due to her lack of understanding, and her husband called her a murderer, all my hopes were shattered. How can a thirteen-year-old girl suddenly become a mother? Is this our destiny? Do we have no right to our lives? How can I accept this bitter fate? This is my reality, and I hope that one day everything will change, and women will have their rights restored.”
“I am a sixth-grade student. Since the Taliban took over the country, they have closed schools for adult women. As a sixth-grader, I am still able to go to school, and I wished to become a doctor. However, with the Taliban’s rules, everyone tells me that I can only go to school this year and will have to stay home next year. I realize now that they are right; I can’t continue my education next year and will have to make the most of this year’s opportunities.”
“I was a hockey player before the Taliban regime, but now I am a full-time housewife. In the morning, I prepare breakfast and handle all the housework. During my free time, I paint, though I haven’t learned it professionally. Painting is the only skill I can practice at home for myself.”
“I am B, a 44-year-old mother of six children. The closure of schools, universities, and courses for girls and women deprived everyone of education and kept us all at home. I was an active woman before the Taliban regime, but now I am restricted from all activities. As an active woman and mother, I am banned from everything I used to do. I love exploring, learning new things, and being free, but in this situation, the only thing I can do is give hope to my daughters and manage household chores with no goals or hopes for myself.”