The Taliban government in Afghanistan has introduced new legislation that effectively permits child marriage for girls as young as nine, drawing widespread condemnation from rights groups and international observers. The law links marriage eligibility to the onset of puberty, removing previously established minimum age limits and redefining consent in ways critics say leave girls with no meaningful legal protection.
The legislation, outlined in an official document titled Principles of Separation Between Spouses, states that the silence of a “virgin girl” who has reached puberty can be interpreted as consent to marriage. Legal experts and human rights advocates argue that because puberty can begin between the ages of eight and thirteen, the rule effectively allows very young girls to be married under state-sanctioned conditions.
Under Afghanistan’s previous legal framework, the minimum marriage age was set at 16 for girls and 18 for boys, with limited exceptions requiring parental or judicial approval. Those protections were significantly strengthened under earlier reforms that criminalized the marriage of girls under 15. The new law reverses these safeguards, according to critics, by removing fixed age thresholds altogether.
Human rights organizations, including those monitoring conditions in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, have described the measure as a severe escalation in restrictions on women’s rights. They argue that the law not only facilitates child marriage but also normalizes coercion by limiting a girl’s ability to refuse marriage or leave an abusive relationship.
Officials and activists cited in the report say the legislation also restricts divorce and separation rights, requiring cases to be processed through Taliban-controlled courts and allowing intervention only under narrow conditions such as proven abuse or moral disqualification of guardians. Even in such cases, critics note that protections remain limited and inconsistent, with no guaranteed right to immediate separation from an abusive spouse.
The broader context in Afghanistan has already been marked by sweeping restrictions on women’s education, employment, and public life. Girls have been barred from schooling beyond early adolescence, while women have been excluded from universities and many forms of work. Institutions previously established to protect women from forced marriage and domestic violence have also been dismantled under Taliban governance.
Observers warn that these changes reinforce structural conditions that increase vulnerability to early and forced marriage, particularly in rural and impoverished communities where economic hardship and social pressures are already significant. With limited access to education and legal protection, families may be left with fewer options, further deepening concerns among humanitarian organizations.
International agencies, including UNICEF, have long reported high rates of early marriage in Afghanistan, with nearly a third of women aged 15 to 49 having been married before adulthood. Analysts now warn that the new legal framework could further entrench this trend by removing deterrents and legal recourse.
As Afghanistan’s legal and social environment continues to shift under Taliban rule, human rights groups describe the situation for women and girls as one of the most severe crises globally. They caution that the latest legislation represents not an isolated policy change, but part of a broader system of restrictions that is reshaping women’s rights and autonomy in the country.
