Afghanistan Crisis Update: Women and Girls in Displacement, Factsheet II – September 2022

The fall of Afghanistan to Taliban rule in August 2021 continues to contribute to the deterioration of the rights and freedoms of women and girls. The Taliban have introduced restrictive measures that systematically exclude women and girls from social, economic and political life. In May 2022, the Taliban issued a directive indicating that women and girls must fully cover themselves in public, including their faces, and leave home only in cases of necessity,1 adding to existing restrictions on women’s work, freedom of movement and access to services. On 17 September 2021, the Taliban announced that girls should refrain from attending secondary school, a fact that was reiterated on 23 March 2022 by announcing secondary schools would remain closed for girls. 2 Furthermore, rights violations continue to be reported, including forced marriages and beatings, and the detention of protesters, women’s rights activists and female security forces. 3 All of this, along with conflict and climate change driven disasters, may be contributing to the displacement of women and girls, both within and outside the country.

This factsheet is the second in a series that examines the changing situation in Afghanistan. It was produced by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), using data from UNHCR, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other sources as indicated. Given the rapidly shifting situation in the country, estimates are likely to change over time. Trends or events taking place after June 2022 will be reflected in future factsheets of this series.