Lead image for Afghanistan the only country banning girls from secondary school and women from university.
Half of Afghan women now leave their homes only once or twice a month as Taliban-imposed restrictions curtail their freedom of movement and participation in public life, according to data released by UN Women on Wednesday.
As the Taliban prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of their return to power this week, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world to ban girls from secondary education and women from attending university, stated the UN agency, which promotes gender equality.
“Half a decade after the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghanistan has systematically dismantled the rights of half its population, making it a global outlier with no parallel in the modern world,” UN Women said in a statement.
Read: The women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan is an ongoing humanitarian calamity
The Taliban-run Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which enforces many of the government's rules on women, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The government's chief spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, also did not immediately respond.
The Taliban have barred an estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls from secondary education since they regained power in Afghanistan in 2021, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation said on Tuesday.
UN Women said the Taliban authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls since taking power, institutionalising discrimination and deepening what it described as the world's most severe women's rights crisis.
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