BAHRARAN LABIB

AFGHANISTAN – Women in Afghanistan have faced multiple forms of violence and restrictions in recent years, from domestic violence and murder to deprivation of education, work, and participation in social life. After the Taliban's return to power in 2021, many legal and institutional mechanisms for protecting women were weakened or abolished, and restrictions and fear of punishment affected their freedom and security.

Violence and femicide crimes are not fully reported, due to fear, family and social pressures, the absence of supportive institutions, and the difficulty of accessing justice. Therefore, the absence of comprehensive statistics makes it difficult to assess the precise dimensions of violence against women.

The psychological state of women is also described as alarming. The United Nations reported that in 2025, about 75% of women participating in a study assessed their mental health as bad or very bad. These reports also indicate a link between domestic violence, poverty, social isolation, and suicide among women. However, due to the lack of reliable data and the failure to record some cases, accurate figures on rates of femicide and suicide in Afghanistan are not available.

The statistics and cases mentioned in this report are based on reports published in the media, and part of it also relies on local sources from which information was collected.

On 28 June, a young couple was killed in Mazar-i-Sharif city, the capital of Balkh province, at the hands of the woman's former husband.

On 29 June, 36 civilians, including women and children, were killed as a result of Pakistani military attacks on Kunar, Paktia, and Paktika provinces.

On 30 June, a mosque imam in Faryab province killed his third wife as a result of her being subjected to severe torture. On the same day, a 25-year-old woman ended her life in one of the Taliban's prisons in Herat province, after consuming a toxic substance.

On 4 July, an 8-year-old girl died in Badghis province, after being subjected to rape in a religious school.

On 23 July, a 21-year-old young woman was killed by her father in Daikundi province, after she failed to be with one of the young men.

On 7 August, a bride was killed after being subjected to domestic violence in her husband's house in Ghazni province, as a result of severe beating. In the same incident, her brother also lost his life. On the same day, a child was killed in her family's house in Herat city.

On 11 August, the body of a middle-aged woman was found in Paktika province, with traces of stone strikes visible on her body.

On 12 August, a woman and her husband were killed inside their house in Kandahar city.

On 21 August, a woman had been kidnapped two months earlier by a Taliban element and forced to marry him. In the end, she was killed by the same Taliban element after being subjected to beating in Sar-e Pol province.

On 22 August, an 18-year-old girl committed suicide and died, after she tried to annul her marriage to a young man, following the intervention of members of the Taliban's Ministry of "Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" in Herat.

On 25 August, a pregnant woman in Khost province committed suicide and passed away as a result of domestic violence. On the same day, a 25-year-old woman was killed in Daikundi province by her ex-husband, following a dispute over the payment of her dowry after divorce.

On 26 August, a woman in Khost province died after her husband beat her to death. The following day, a midwife in Helmand province ended her life by consuming poison, after being dismissed from her work.

On 29 August, the body of a six-year-old girl was found in the twelfth district of Herat city.

On 31 August, the body of a five-year-old girl was found in Kabul after she went missing, with her internal organs having been removed from her body.

On 3 September, a 17-year-old girl was killed by gunfire in Nuristan province at the hands of one of her family members. On the same day, a 15-year-old girl in Badghis province ended her life by hanging due to domestic violence.

On 17 September, the body of a 20-year-old young woman was found in Logar province.

On 18 September, the body of a young woman, decapitated and bearing traces of torture, was found in Faryab province.

On 21 September, four members of one family, consisting of three women and a child, were killed inside their home in Kapisa province.