Four years after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, dozens of its directives have stripped Afghan women and girls of their rights to education, work, freedom of movement and participation in public life. With each new restriction, women are being pushed further out of public life – and closer to being erased from it altogether. UN Women has compiled 10 key facts which explain the most severe women’s rights crisis in the world – affecting 21 million women living in Afghanistan – and how it is being normalized.

Afghan women are experiencing a worsening health crisis – bans are driving child marriage, adolescent pregnancies, and deaths. Women’s representation in decision-making has vanished – all political leadership roles in Afghanistan are held by men. Women are prevented from accessing public spaces – including parks, gyms and sports clubs. Many women-led organizations can no longer effectively reach women and girls due to global aid cuts – threatening vital services and solidarity networksRead the ten facts in full at UN Women’s media centre.

Press briefing at the UN Headquarters from UN Women Afghanistan Special Representative, Susan Ferguson„The latest data from our regular door-to-door surveys shows that, despite systemic and continuous limitations on their lives, 40% of Afghan women still imagine a future where change and equality are possible. This hope is a lifeline and a political strategy. It is a personal act of resilience and resistance, even as 75% of the more than 2000 women we interviewed described their mental health as ‘poor’, or ‘very poor’.“ Read the full briefing at UN Women’s media centre.