A decree published by the Taliban government in Afghanistan has drawn condemnation from the United Nations and human rights groups for implicitly recognizing child marriage and further eroding women’s rights.
The Taliban government, which has imposed some of the world’s toughest restrictions on women and girls since taking over Afghanistan in 2021, has rejected the accusations. It also claims to have saved thousands of women and girls from forced marriages.
Here is a look at what the decree says.
Child marriage appears implicitly allowed.
The decree regulates divorce in Afghanistan, including defining the conditions for the separation of girls who were married before puberty.
Article 5 states: “Upon reaching puberty, the minor has the option to dissolve the marriage” that a relative may have contracted for her.
Puberty generally occurs between ages 8 and 13, according to the U.S. National Institute for Health. But Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman, told The New York Times in a series of voice messages that most Afghan women reached that stage between 15 and 18.
Fereshta Abbasi, the Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said that child marriage was legal under previous governments “but only between the ages of 15 and 16” and with the parents’ permission.
Around one in three Afghan girls were married before turning 18 before the Taliban swept back to power in 2021, according to UNICEF.
That number has been increasing in recent years, rights groups say, driven by economic hardship, limited access to courts for women, and a ban on secondary and higher education for girls.
The decree also stipulates that if a girl does not object to her arranged marriage as she reaches puberty, that will be seen as consent. Adult women — and boys — must verbally consent.
“By devoting a chapter on separation for girls who reach puberty and who are married, the decree implies that child marriage is permitted,” the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said in a statement. “It also allows for a girl’s silence as she reaches puberty to be interpreted as consent to a marriage.”
The path to divorce for women remains a difficult one.
The decree states that a woman can file for divorce if her husband mistreats her — similar to what was in theory already available. But the path for a woman to obtain a divorce is tortuous; Afghan men retain a unilateral right to divorce.
“The decree allows divorce, but on very abusive terms for women: It has to go through mediation, with the family’s support and the husband’s consent,” Ms. Abbasi said.
Ms. Abbasi added that it would be nearly impossible in practice for a child to seek a divorce.
“How could a girl who has been married to an abusive husband for four, five years dare to go to court?,” she said. “How can she afford going to court, or how does she even know that she can go to court?”
Here’s what the Taliban government is saying.
Mr. Mujahid, the government spokesman, told The Times in his voice messages that “no girl should be forced into marriage by a member of her family.”
“She should be able to make her own decision, choose for herself, and give her own approval before a marriage can take place,” Mr. Mujahid said.
That right for adult Afghan women was protected in a 2021 decree that the Taliban’s leader issued in the first few months of Taliban rule.
It is different for girls.
Mr. Mujahid acknowledged that in practice, marriages of prepubescent girls arranged by a father or grandfather “were still regarded as valid” — an issue that the new decree would fix, he said.
Citing Islamic law, Mr. Mujahid also endorsed silence as a sign of consent for unmarried girls.
“A marriage proposal is something that a girl may feel shy or embarrassed about, and she may not be able to openly say that she agrees to marry,” he said. “Therefore, her silence is regarded as consent.”
Protections for women are dwindling.
Rights groups have described the decree as a new layer of discrimination against women and girls.
Girls are not allowed in school above sixth grade, and women are prevented from most jobs and public spaces. They should not be heard in public and often have to be accompanied by a man when going out, according to other decrees issued by the Taliban.
“Women’s exclusion is viewed as normal — or inevitable,” U.N. Women, which works for gender equality, said last year, describing the restrictions as “a core pillar of the Taliban’s governance.”
A criminal code published this year states that a husband who “severely beats” his wife faces a jail sentence of 15 days. By comparison, a person found guilty of injuring someone else in general could be sentenced to six months.
Afghan women are four times less likely to seek judicial mechanisms than men because of the lack of female lawyers, who are excluded from courts, and the loss of women-centered justice services and institutions, according to the United Nations.
Safiullah Padshah contributed reporting.
