Afghan women are losing even more rights with the passing of new laws. However, there is no international outrage.
Feb 18, 2026, 9:41 p.mFeb 18, 2026, 9:41 p.m
When the Taliban seized power for the second time in August 2021, many hoped that the Islamists had moderated themselves. Many Western experts argue that they are ultimately dependent on foreign support. However, the Taliban quickly seemed to not care about this at all.
Since the Taliban came back to power in Afghanistan, women have lost their rights.Image: AP / chmedia
“Complete control in the country is much more important to them,” says Sima Samar. The gynecologist and activist became Afghanistan’s first women’s minister after the first Taliban rule (1996 – 2001). Today she lives in exile in the USA. The Islamist rulers seem to be particularly targeting women, she says in an interview with CH Media: “They want to keep them as subordinate as possible.”
This is clear, for example, with the new laws on domestic violence. If a man beats his wife in such a way that “a fracture, an injury or visible bruises appear on her body,” he faces 15 days in prison in the worst case scenario – provided the woman can prove the crime.
Women have to cover themselves completely in public and are forbidden from speaking in public spaces.Image: keystone
For comparison: If a person organizes animal fights – “dogs, camels, sheep and similar animals – or birds such as chickens, quails or partridges” – according to the new law, they will have to go to prison for up to five months. “You can imagine the position of women in Afghan society,” says Samar.
Men are allowed to punish their wives
Even before the latest changes to the law in January, women in Afghanistan were almost completely excluded from public life. They have to cover themselves completely, their voices are forbidden in public and they are not allowed to look at men to whom they are not related or married. “Women are currently so oppressed that it is practically impossible to raise their voices,” says Samar.
Until now, it has been difficult for authorities to enforce the laws across the board. That has now changed. Husbands are now expressly authorized to punish their wives. In addition, any Muslim who observes an alleged “sin” has the authority to punish it. Of particular concern is the definition of the punishing person. In the new guidelines this is referred to as “husband or gentleman”. The term “slave” also appears in several articles. An explicit distinction is made between “free” people and “slaves”. Afghanistan is officially defying international law. Who the slaves are in this context is not clearly defined.
Doctor Sima Samar has been committed to medical care for the poor and human rights in Afghanistan for around 50 years. For this she received the “Alternative Nobel Prize” in 2012.Image: Victor Boyko / chmedia
The population is further divided into four classes: religious scholars, elites such as tribal elders and traders, middle class and lower class. Legal consequences may vary depending on your status. While the two highest groups can only be warned, the third class faces imprisonment and the lowest class also faces threats, beatings and lashes.
The reasons for the punishments are as strange as the classification: under the new law, imams have the authority to authorize executions of people deemed “depraved” or “heretical.” Fathers are allowed to punish their children as young as 10 years old if they fail to pray. Dancing and watching dances are illegal, and “places of immorality” may be destroyed. What exactly these are is not defined in more detail.
“Other extremists learn from the Taliban”
Many laws are specifically tailored to women. Women can be punished with up to three months in prison if they leave the house without their husband’s permission. If a woman turns her back on religion, she is sentenced to life imprisonment and ten lashes every three days until she accepts Islam again. How exactly it should be proven whether a woman actually no longer believes is not explained.
Under the new laws, women are denied any rights to themselves and their bodies.Image: keystone
Under the new laws, women are denied any rights. They are defined as dependent individuals under male control – without autonomy over their bodies, their movements and their beliefs.
Despite the precarious situation in Afghanistan, there is hardly any outrage from the West, for example in the form of protests. According to the UN, they are still analyzing the texts. Sima Samar is disappointed by the lack of international response. “Switzerland and the West in general should not normalize human rights violations,” she says. Normalization undermines the dignity of people everywhere.
In addition, the problem will not simply disappear if we ignore it, says Samar: “Other groups – such as the Islamic State (IS), Al-Shabaab in Somalia and other extremists – are learning from the Taliban in Afghanistan.” (aargauerzeitung.ch)
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