BAHARIN LEHIB

Ghor- The number of forced marriages of girls in Afghanistan has been on rise since the beginning of the Afghan civil war (1992-1996). Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, this number has doubled, leading to an increase in domestic violence, suspicious deaths of women under the guise of “suicide” and femicide in Afghanistan. 183 child marriages and 10 cases of selling of children were registered in Herat and Baghdis provinces alone over 2018 and 2019 and the children were between 6 months and 17 years of age, said the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in a statement in 2021.

Since August 15, 2021, Afghan women and girls have been erased from public life without having their civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Since girls are deprived of their right to education in the country, families marry their daughters off at a young age for reasons such as protecting them from being forced into marriage to members of the Taliban, easing family poverty or supporting other family members.

A 20-year-old woman identified as Abida died under suspicious circumstances in Afghanistan’s central Ghor province on April 27, 2025 after a Taliban member had been pressuring her family to marry her off to his brother. “Abida was killed because she refused to be the third wife of the Taliban member’s brother,” said Leila Naz, one of the relatives of Abida. “Abida killed herself by setting herself on fire to escape the forced marriage after the Taliban members arrested her father and brother.”

A video showing how people attempted to extinguish the fire was shared on social media platforms, sparking anger in Afghanistan.

‘We must struggle against the forced marriage’

“As women, we are subjected to psychological and physical violence every day by the Taliban,” Wajiha Nejat, Afghan women’s rights activist, told NuJINHA. “Although the Taliban have killed many women over the past three years, they go unpunished. We must struggle against forced marriage in order to protect women and girls from the Taliban. Forced marriage is a form of gender-based violence and a serious human rights violation. Afghan women struggle against extremism while the international community remains silent. Urgent support and effective action are needed to raise a generation respecting human rights.”