“I begged them, my daughter was dying.” These words were a plea from a mother, Zarin Gul, whose pregnant daughter, Nasrin, was suffering excruciating pains that required immediate attention from a health facility. However, on their way to the health center, they were stopped by a Taliban checkpoint due to a lack of a male […]
Taliban Dress Code Crackdown in Afghanistan Sparks Protests, Arrests, and Condemnation
On June 6 and 7, officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, commonly known as the morality police, detained dozens of women in western Afghanistan’s Herat Province for alleged dress code violations. Witnesses and residents reported that many of the women arrested were already fully covered and complied […]
Child Marriage Surges as Gaza’s Humanitarian Crisis Deepens
Desperate times can call for desperate measures, like in war-torn Gaza, where suffering is rampant amongst the ruins of buildings and lives. This suffering may look like extreme hunger or flooded tents once called home, or entire families killed and maimed in the constant bombings and airstrikes by the Israeli government. According to a detailed […]
New Report Details Systematic Violations of Women’s Rights Under Taliban Rule, Urges Global Accountability
A new report released by the Tufts University’s Feinstein International Center is intensifying calls for international accountability, concluding that the Taliban’s governance in Afghanistan is in direct and systematic violation of global legal obligations to protect women and girls. The report, Legal Commitments, Systemic Violations: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Taliban and CEDAW Obligations in […]
New Taliban Law Legalizes Child Marriage and Further Restricts Women’s Rights
A newly published Taliban family law regulation is further institutionalizing discrimination and oppression against Afghan women and girls by codifying unequal rights in marriage, divorce, and family matters. The law also effectively removes Afghanistan’s previous minimum marriage age for girls by linking eligibility for marriage to puberty, which can begin as early as age nine. […]
Uncertainty and Pressure: Afghans Who Aided the U.S. Fear Return to Afghanistan or Congo
Afghan refugees who have helped U.S. officials living at a former U.S. military base in Qatar have been left with an incredibly difficult decision: go back to Afghanistan under the Taliban or relocate to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The New York Times reported that the Trump Administration has been participating in talks with the […]
UN Experts: Ban on Afghan Women Working With the UN Undermines Aid and Women’s Survival
UN experts are calling for the immediate reversal of Taliban policies that prevent Afghan women from working at or even entering United Nations offices as they warn that the ban is not only a violation of women’s rights but is also worsening Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis. According to UN experts, Afghan women, including UN staff, contractors, […]
Afghanistan Faces Growing Crises as Aid Cuts, Regional Conflict, and Diplomatic Uncertainty Deepen Civilian Suffering
Afghanistan is being pulled deeper into crisis, not by a single event but by a convergence of decisions and conflicts that continue to narrow the space for survival and accountability. In recent weeks, developments at the United Nations, renewed cross-border violence with Pakistan, and escalating conflict across the Middle East have combined to place extraordinary […]
UN Report: Taliban Policies Are Driving a Health and Human Rights Crisis for Women in Afghanistan
A new report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, warns that Taliban policies targeting women and girls are pushing the country toward a worsening health and human rights crisis. The report presented to the United Nations Human Rights Council focuses on the right to health and […]
Taliban Criminal Code Authorizes Beating of Wives as Long as It Does Not “Break Bones”
The Taliban recently enacted a sweeping new penal code that explicitly permits husbands to physically punish their wives and children, as long as the abuse does not result in broken bones or open wounds The provision is embedded in a sweeping 119-article decree signed in January by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and circulated to courts […]
Taliban Order Gender Segregation in Hospital Operating Rooms Across Afghanistan
The Taliban have issued a new directive ordering teaching hospitals across Afghanistan to fully segregate male and female medical staff in operating rooms, a move that health professionals warn will further weaken an already strained healthcare system. The Taliban enforced the same policy when they were in power in the late 1990s until they were […]
Taliban’s New Penal Code Institutionalizes Exclusion and Threatens Afghanistan’s Vulnerable Communities
In January, the Taliban released a new law authorizing executions across eleven categories of people. Article 16 gives the Taliban the ability for “discretionary execution” for Taliban-defined crimes such as “armed opposition to the Taliban, promoting beliefs contrary to Islam, sorcery and repeat criminal acts.” The provision’s broad and vague language has sparked serious concerns […]
Taliban’s New Penal Code Codifies Violence, Obedience, and Gender Apartheid
The Taliban has quietly enacted a sweeping new penal code that fundamentally reshapes Afghanistan’s legal system, formalizing violence, criminalizing dissent, legalizing slavery, and stripping women of legal personhood under the guise of religious law. On January 7, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada signed off on the “Penal Principles of Taliban Courts,” a document spanning 119 articles […]
Bogota Implements Care Blocks: A Monumental Shift Away from Unpaid Labor
Bogota, Columbia has been making historic strides towards gender equity by investing in government-provided care labor through programs known as “care blocks.” These “care blocks” provide an opportunity for women to drop off their children to create more free time. With this free time, mothers have an opportunity to run errands, meet with different consultants, […]
The Women Intertwined in Venezuela’s Fate
On January 3, 2026, a military operation carried out by U.S. armed forces in the capital of Venezuela resulted in the capture of Cilia Flores and her husband, President Nicolás Maduro. This has led to an ongoing state of emergency and authoritarian measures, which have impacted political dissent and civil society. Yet much of the […]
A “Trojan Horse” That Wasn’t: Senate Hearing Shows Afghans Are Among the Most Thoroughly Vetted
Last Wednesday in Washington, D.C., lawmakers convened a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to examine the Biden administration’s Afghan parole program. While national security concerns dominated the discussion, the hearing also made clear that Afghans are among the most thoroughly vetted populations entering the United States. It also underscored the growing uncertainty facing tens of thousands […]
China Increases Tax on Contraceptives in an Attempt to Boost Birth Rate
On January 1st, 2026, China implemented a 13% VAT (value-added tax) on birth control and other forms of contraception to boost birth rates. China, the world’s second-largest economy, has been experiencing a decline in its birth rate, especially over the last three years. This tax move is intended to help boost ‘fertility-friendly’ measures and “love […]
What Australia’s New Social Media Ban May Mean for Young Women
Australia has banned social media accounts for young people under 16. This follows a larger government effort to protect minors, especially young women, from potential harms linked to social media, such as body-image issues, mental health challenges, and sexual exploitation. Australia is now the first country to implement such a ban. Australian Prime Minister Anthony […]
Following Tragic D.C. Shooting, Afghan Allies Face a New Wave of Enforcement and Fear
The shooting in Washington D.C. that left one National Guard member dead and another critically wounded on November 26 quickly became a major focus of U.S. media. Yet, the full picture of what happened tells a very different story from the one now shaping federal policy. The suspect is an Afghan man who once served […]
New Taliban Rule in Afghanistan: No Burqa, No Healthcare for Afghan Women
On November 5, 2025, in Herat, Afghanistan, the Taliban imposed a new edict requiring women to wear a burqa before entering public hospitals. Women patients, visitors, and even medical staff must now wear a burqa to be allowed inside any public healthcare facility. A burqa is a full-body covering that leaves only a small mesh […]