Taliban Legalize Child Marriage in Afghanistan
Afghanistan's new decree allows child marriage annulment only after tribunal validation, with critics warning it effectively legalizes underage unions and restricts divorce rights for girls.
A new decree published in Afghanistan’s official gazette has sparked international alarm over what critics say amounts to the de facto legalization of child marriage and further restrictions on divorce rights for girls under Taliban rule.
The decree, titled “On the Judicial Separation of Spouses,” was published on May 14, nearly four years after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. According to Valeurs Actuelles, while the 31-article text is officially presented as a legal framework for managing separation and divorce proceedings in courts, human rights observers view it as another step in the systematic dismantling of women’s and girls’ rights in Afghanistan.
At the center of the controversy is Article 5, which addresses marriages arranged during childhood by family members. The decree states that a person married as a minor may request annulment of the union once puberty is reached. However, such annulment can only be granted after validation by a tribunal.
For numerous human rights organizations, this provision implicitly recognizes the legitimacy of child marriages. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has stated that the text clearly suggests these unions are now tolerated within the legal framework imposed by Taliban authorities.
Gender Inequality Embedded in Law
Critics also point to blatant gender inequality written into the decree. The text stipulates that the silence of a “virgin girl” who has reached puberty may be interpreted as consent to marriage. This presumption does not apply to boys or to previously married women, who are granted greater means to contest a union.
Independent Afghan media outlets and women’s rights organizations operating in exile warn that the new text could make it extremely difficult for teenage girls married against their will to obtain a divorce, particularly when their husbands refuse any separation.
Pattern of Systematic Oppression
This legal development unfolds against an already dire backdrop for Afghan women and girls. Since returning to power, the Taliban have progressively excluded girls from secondary and higher education while imposing sweeping restrictions on their access to employment, freedom of movement, and participation in public life.
Several women’s rights organizations assert that the ban on girls’ education has fueled a significant increase in early and forced marriages. According to their estimates, approximately 70 percent of young girls affected have been forced into premature marriage, with nearly two-thirds married before the age of 18.
The international community has repeatedly condemned Taliban policies toward women as systematic gender apartheid, though the regime has shown no indication of reversing course on its increasingly restrictive measures.
With information from Valeurs Actuelles
