The United Nations voiced “grave concern” on Thursday over a new law issued by Afghanistan’s Taliban government on marital separation, which includes provisions related to child marriage, warning that the decree further entrenches discrimination against women and girls.
The Afghan government rejected the criticisms, insisting the decree complies with Islamic law and noting that forced marriage of girls is already banned in the country.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice published Decree No. 18 “on judicial separation of spouses” last week, establishing rules for the separation of married couples. Among its most controversial provisions, the law states that the silence of a girl who has reached puberty can be interpreted as consent to marriage. It also addresses the separation of girls who have reached puberty and are married, “implying that child marriage is permitted,” according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), reports AP/UNB.
UNAMA said the decree “undermines the principle of free and full consent and fails to safeguard the best interests of the child.” The law allows a marriage to be annulled “if a father or grandfather has given a minor girl or boy without any dowry, insufficient dowry, or obscene embezzlement.” It further permits a girl, married by her father or grandfather to a man “who has not treated her with kindness or is well-known for his bad choices,” to approach the court to cancel the marriage upon reaching puberty.
However, the decree also states that if a girl requests a divorce and her husband denies it, “then in this case, there are no witnesses with the girl, the husband’s word is valid.” She does not require witnesses if she makes the request before a judge.
Women and girls in Afghanistan already face widespread discrimination, with laws dictating dress codes and behaviour. They are banned from secondary schools, universities, most jobs, and nearly all public recreational activities, including gyms, beauty salons, and parks.
Georgette Gagnon, UN Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and head of UNAMA, said: “Decree No. 18 is part of a broader and deeply concerning trajectory in which the rights of Afghan women and girls are being eroded.”
While the law technically allows women to separate from their husbands, it imposes far more restrictions on them than on men. UNAMA highlighted that “while men retain the unilateral right to divorce, women must pursue complex and restrictive judicial avenues to separate from a spouse,” reinforcing structural discrimination and limiting women’s autonomy in matters fundamental to their dignity, safety, and well-being.
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan after the U.S.-backed government withdrew in 2021, the group issued limited rights for women, including inheritance and the right to refuse marriage. UNAMA noted that successive decrees have since undermined these protections, depriving millions of Afghan women and girls of education, restricting economic participation, and deepening poverty with long-term consequences for national development.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the RTA state broadcaster that objections from “those who contradict the religion of Islam are not new and we should not pay attention to them.” He added that Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had already issued a decree banning the forced marriage of girls and that Afghan courts and the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice have investigated thousands of such cases in the past.
