NGO Documents Over 400 Women's Rights Violations Under Taliban Rule

The Women's Rights Watch of Afghanistan, in collaboration with the ARSA Association, held a meeting titled "From Marginalization to Elimination: Presenting the Annual Report on Violations of Fundamental Women's Rights in Afghanistan" on Saturday in Kayseri, Turkey. The event was attended by academics, civil society figures, and Afghan and Turkish women's rights activists.

The organization documented at least 76 cases of intentional killings of women and girls in 2025, with the highest number—16 cases—reported in Nangarhar province. It did not provide details on the perpetrators. The report also recorded more than 30 cases of suicide and self-immolation among women and girls during the year. Over 90% of surveyed women and girls described their mental health as "bad" or "very bad."

At least three cases of sexual violence in Taliban detention centers were documented, including two in Balkh province.

Zakira Hakmat, head of the Women's Rights Watch of Afghanistan, stated at the event that combating systematic violence against Afghan women is not solely a domestic issue but a global responsibility. She criticized the international community's silence and inaction amid ongoing widespread violations of women's and girls' fundamental rights over four years of Taliban rule, warning that continued silence effectively aligns with the Taliban's suppressive policies and the elimination of women from social, educational, and political spheres in Afghanistan.

Bulut Reyhanoglu, a Turkish filmmaker and Global Solidarity Ambassador for amplifying Afghan women's voices, described the systematic exclusion of Afghan women from all public spheres as a crisis transcending Afghanistan's borders. She urged the international community to take serious, practical steps beyond diplomatic approaches to secure Afghan women's fundamental rights and characterized the world's silence on gender-based oppression under Taliban rule as normalization and alignment with ongoing discrimination and pressures against Afghan women.