Five years after the Taliban takeover, half of Afghan women interviewed leave home only once or twice a month, according to UN Women.
The Taliban authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls since August 2021.
Seven in 10 Afghan women now describe their mental health as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad’.
More than 10.7 million Afghan women and girls need humanitarian assistance in 2026, while aid cuts are putting women-led organisations at risk.
Five years after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, severe restrictions on women and girls have become entrenched across almost every part of public and private life, according to United Nations’ agency UN Women.
The agency said half of Afghan women interviewed now leave home only once or twice a month because of restrictions on movement and access to public spaces.
Since August 2021, the Taliban authorities have issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls, restricting their access to education, employment, justice, healthcare and public life, UN Women said in a statement on August 12, 2026.
The agency described Afghanistan as a global outlier, saying there was “no parallel in the modern world” for the systematic dismantling of the rights of women and girls.
Restrictions intensified over the past year, it said. More than half of women now report leaving home only twice a month or less, while nearly three-quarters said they felt unsafe leaving home without a male guardian, or mahram. More than half said they avoided public spaces such as markets and health facilities altogether.
UN Women also warned of a worsening mental health crisis. Seven in 10 women now describe their mental health as “bad” or “very bad”, citing confinement, loss of rights, isolation and limited access to support.
Access to healthcare has become more difficult because of mobility restrictions and shortages of women nurses and doctors, the agency said. Afghanistan already has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates, with an estimated 638 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2024.
Girls remain barred from secondary school and women from university, making Afghanistan the only country enforcing such a ban, UN Women said. If current restrictions continue, the country could lose more than 25,000 female teachers and health workers by 2030.
The humanitarian crisis is also deepening. More than 10.7 million Afghan women and girls need humanitarian assistance in 2026, while restrictions on women working for non-governmental organisations and international aid cuts are making it harder to reach those most in need.
Women remain largely excluded from the labour market, with only 7 per cent employed compared with 84 per cent of men. UN Women said this exclusion could cost Afghanistan up to $1 billion in lost gross domestic product between 2024 and 2026.
Nearly three-quarters of women-led organisations surveyed in Afghanistan reported funding cuts in 2025, and more than half expect to suspend operations or close within the next year.
UN Women said the crisis risked being forgotten internationally, even as women’s organisations remained among the last lifelines for Afghan women and girls.