Special Report: Femicide in Afghanistan

By the Central Asia Task Force

Genocide Watch

An Afghan mother holds her daughter, staring at the light from behind her obscured window. Photo: UN Women/Sayed Habib Bidell.

The conditions facing women in Afghanistan today reflect a systematic, multilayered assault on their rights, dignity, and survival. The Taliban’s return to power has not only reversed 20 years of progress but has intensified gender-based persecution to levels amounting to femicide. From the collapse of legal protections and the destruction of educational and economic opportunities to the rise of targeted violence, the current situation leaves Afghan women with few places of safety and non-existent paths of upward social mobility. Facing dangers from both the state and their family members, Afghan women have become prisoners in their own country and homes.  

Any meaningful path forward requires sustained international attention, protection for the most vulnerable, and long-term support for Afghan women's own efforts to reclaim autonomy and rebuild the foundations of a just society.

Full report:

Special Report - Femicide in Afghanistan.pdf

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