The Reality of Afghan Women in 2025: Life Under Taliban Restrictions

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021 following the U.S. withdrawal, women’s lives have been systematically restructured under the group’s rigid interpretation of Islamic law. The regime has not only imposed control over geography. It has sought to dominate the very consciousness of Afghan society. For women, this has meant a deliberate and aggressive erasure of rights — from banning them at gyms and restaurants to forbidding men and women from dining together.

Nearly four years later, in 2025, the reality for Afghan women remains bleak. Despite sporadic media coverage and the efforts of international organizations, much of their daily struggle has gone unseen by the world. Yet, new reports and documentaries are again drawing attention to what life looks like under Taliban restrictions — a life where women are denied education, healthcare, employment, and even rescue during natural disasters.

Education Locked Away

Women’s education remains one of the most visible casualties of Taliban rule. Girls are restricted from studying many subjects, while women are outright prohibited from higher education. In place of a diverse curriculum, religious schools dominated by Quranic studies have become the norm.

A recent CNN documentary featured a 16-year-old Afghan girl who expressed her desire to become a doctor. Her dream, however, was only possible if she could leave the country. This is because medical education for women inside Afghanistan remains off-limits. This reflects a broader pattern: while education technically exists, it is hollowed out of choice and professional potential.

Some women, however, have managed to find cracks in the system. Online initiatives, such as free computer coding programs designed specifically for Afghan women, have provided limited alternative opportunities. These underground educational efforts highlight both the resilience of Afghan women and the global commitment to keeping avenues of empowerment alive.

Healthcare and Mobility Under Siege

If the Taliban’s restrictions on education seem suffocating, their impact on healthcare and basic mobility is even more devastating. Afghan women are required to travel with a male chaperone. This mandate effectively shuts unmarried women out of work, healthcare facilities, and even public life. The Taliban’s Ministry of Vice and Virtue has gone so far as to advise women to marry in order to access these fundamental rights.

Healthcare access is dwindling as female doctors, nurses, and midwives are pushed out of the system due to bans on women’s education and employment in medicine. With fewer women able to train, the shortage of female providers is worsening. This leaves Afghan women in dire straits, particularly in rural areas where cultural norms already restrict male doctors from treating women.

Everyday Life, Caught on Camera

The restrictive reality was further exposed by an Afghan man’s amateur video, intended to prove that women were working and present in society. Instead, the footage revealed just how narrow their public existence had become. Women in the video appeared only briefly, fully veiled and accompanied by male chaperones.

When one woman refused to be filmed, asserting her right to say no, it was a rare glimpse of resistance. The man’s attempt to present the footage as evidence of women’s freedoms instead backfired, drawing online ridicule. Comments mocked the claims: “Women are also allowed to breathe. What a great country.” Another sarcastically added, “Women are allowed to walk. This is a great country. Let’s celebrate.”

The backlash underscored how far Afghanistan has fallen since the era of U.S. presence. During that time, women could be seen working openly, pursuing education, and wearing diverse attire in public.

Earthquake Disaster Reveals Deeper Inequality

The cruelty of Taliban restrictions has also been exposed in times of crisis. Following a devastating 6.6 magnitude earthquake, multiple reports revealed that women were treated as secondary to men during rescue efforts. With women banned from working, no female rescuers were present. Male rescue teams were reluctant to physically assist women due to the Taliban’s “no skin contact” rule. This left many women trapped under rubble far longer than necessary.

This gender-based neglect highlighted how religiously enforced restrictions extend beyond daily life. It turns natural disasters into amplified tragedies for Afghan women.

International Advocacy, Closed Doors

Despite widespread condemnation, the Taliban shows no signs of loosening its grip. Organizations such as Refugee Women’s Network, UN Women, the Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), and the Keihan Foundation continue to push for women’s empowerment. They offer funding, education, and advocacy. Yet their efforts are often blocked by the Taliban’s refusal to cooperate or permit outside intervention.

Global media has played a crucial role in keeping attention on Afghan women’s struggles, especially in the wake of the earthquake. Reports and documentaries have reignited debates, urging the international community not to forget Afghanistan’s women. Their voices have been silenced within their own country.

A Future in Question

The story of Afghan women in 2025 is not just one of oppression, but also of resilience. Even under suffocating restrictions, women continue to find ways to learn, to resist, and to assert their humanity. Whether through underground classrooms, refusing to be filmed without consent, or simply by surviving against all odds.

Yet, the international community faces a pressing question: is enough being done? As long as doors remain closed and the Taliban enforces systemic discrimination, Afghan women’s futures remain perilously uncertain.

What is clear is that the struggle of Afghan women is not a distant issue. It is a defining human rights crisis of our time — one that demands not just awareness, but action.

Sources

• CNN – Afghan women secretly go online for education amid Taliban crackdown
• The Guardian – ‘They do not teach us what we need’: Inside the expansion of religious schools for girls across Afghanistan
• United Nations – Taliban is enforcing restrictions on single and unaccompanied Afghan women, UN says
• Amateur video coverage – Claims of Afghan women’s freedom sparks backlash online
• Al Jazeera – Afghanistan quake exposed a deeper tragedy: Gender inequality & religious prejudice against women
• Courtesy report – ‘No skin contact with males’: Afghan women left under earthquake rubble
• UN Women – Is the world doing enough for Afghan women?
• Refugee Women’s Network, Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund, Keihan Foundation official reports