Afghanistan has seen a stark reversal in progress in all sectors of their society after the Taliban took over in 2021. However, one of the most deeply impacted sectors has been women’s health.
Before 2021, there had been 20 years of growth in the health sector. Maternal mortality had decreased from 1,345 deaths/100,000 live births in 2000 to 620 deaths/100,000 live births in 2021. Although 620 deaths was still a high mortality rate compared to neighboring countries, the mortality rate still had decreased more than 50% – a significant progress for Afghan women’s health in just 20 years. Mothers and children were not only surviving, they were thriving. With improved health, women were contributing to the workforce and economy through their roles as doctors, nurses, teachers, politicians, and lawyers amongst many other professions.
This large decrease in maternal mortality from 2000-2020 had largely been due to an increase in healthcare service delivery for women and an increase in female education. However, in 2021 when the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, their restrictions against women became a huge barrier to service delivery and reproductive health. For example, women’s medical education and training is now banned and women cannot travel without a male guardian. Many clinics began to close due to international funding cuts and lack of cooperation from the Taliban.
These restrictions and the Taliban’s dismissal of women’s rights have had direct consequences on women’s health. Gul’s daughter, Nasrin, was pregnant with her eighth child. When she needed to go to the hospital, Gul and Nasrin were stopped multiple times at Taliban checkpoints as they were travelling alone without a male. After waiting at checkpoints, it was too late and both Nasrin and her child passed away. Despite Gul’s pleas, the Taliban did not listen: “I begged them, telling them my daughter was dying. I pleaded for their permission. But they still refused.”
Nasrin is not the only Afghan woman facing this issue. A report conducted by the World Health Organization predicted that 24 mothers and 167 infants die every day from preventable causes and about 14 million people in Afghanistan lack access to basic healthcare services. Additionally, UN Women also reports that by 2026, the possibility of a woman dying while giving birth will have increased by 50%.
These reports are not just numbers – they are women who are being affected everyday.
Most women arrive at hospitals in critical conditions, sometimes it is too late to help them, because they have been prevented from accessing care earlier due to a lack of a male guardian and facilities in their villages. Another woman’s baby died on the way to the hospital, too. She wasn’t able to go sooner because of a lack of a male guardian, “I had to wait for my husband to return from work. I had no other male guardian.” Even if women go to the hospital without a male chaperone, then they are denied treatment.
The Taliban are even actively inhibiting the work of physicians and nurses by enforcing their clothing policies. According to a female healthcare worker, “Taliban enforcers barged in and took away three female nurses, claiming their uniforms were inappropriate. They made them sign a pledge to wear longer clothing before letting them go. Even in life and death emergencies, instead of letting us treat patients they are instead arresting us over our clothing.”
The Taliban has facilitated the drastic increase in women’s mortality because of their failure to recognize and respect women’s rights. The international community cannot afford to look away. What is happening in Afghanistan is not just a rollback of rights, but it is a war on women’s existence as humans.
International political pressure must be applied to ensure women’s rights and to secure improved women’s health. Stories about women like Nasrin should compel the international community to act. Access to healthcare is a basic human right that Afghan women deserve, but denied by the Taliban.
Sources: World Bank, FMF, The Guardian
