FILE: Zareena, left, and Shakeela, internally displaced Afghan girls play outside a shanty at a refugee camp in the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, July 25, 2011.
Dar Yasin/AP
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Dar Yasin/AP
KABUL, Afghanistan — On Thursday, the United Nations voiced serious concerns about a new marriage separation law introduced by Afghanistan’s Taliban government. The law contains clauses related to child marriage, which the UN argues deepen existing discrimination against women and girls.
The Taliban administration dismissed these allegations, asserting that the decree is in line with Islamic law and that forced marriages of girls have already been outlawed in the country.
Last week, Afghanistan’s justice ministry released Decree No. 18, titled “on judicial separation of spouses,” detailing the regulations for marital separation. One of the contentious aspects of the decree is that a girl’s silence upon reaching puberty may be interpreted as consent to marriage. Furthermore, it addresses the separation of girls who are married after reaching puberty, which, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), suggests the allowance of child marriage.
The decree, according to UNAMA, undermines the fundamental principle of free and full consent, failing to protect the best interests of the child.
It also states that a marriage may be deemed invalid if a minor girl or boy is given away by a father or grandfather without sufficient dowry or in cases of obscene embezzlement. Additionally, if such a marriage occurs with a man known for his mistreatment or poor reputation, the girl has the right to seek annulment upon reaching puberty.
However, the new law states that if a woman requests a divorce and the husband refuses, the husband’s word takes precedence unless the woman makes her case before a judge without needing witnesses.
Women and girls in Afghanistan already face significant discrimination, with laws governing their attire and behavior, and restrictions preventing them from attending secondary schools, universities, or participating in most jobs and recreational activities like gyms, beauty salons, and parks.
Georgette Gagnon, the U.N.’s Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, expressed concern, saying, “Decree No. 18 is part of a broader and deeply concerning trajectory in which the rights of Afghan women and girls are being eroded.”
While the decree allows women to separate from their husbands, it imposes more hurdles for women than for men.
According to UNAMA, the decree operates within an unequal framework where men can unilaterally divorce, whereas women must navigate complex legal processes to separate from their spouses. This situation, they claim, perpetuates structural discrimination and limits women’s autonomy.
Following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-backed forces in 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and announced limited rights for women, including inheritance rights and the ability to refuse marriage. However, UNAMA asserts that subsequent decrees have undermined these protections.
The government-imposed restrictions have deprived women and girls of education, reduced their economic participation, and increased poverty, with long-lasting implications for Afghanistan’s development, UNAMA added.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Afghan government, dismissed criticisms from those opposing Islamic religion, stating they were not new and should be ignored. He highlighted that Afghanistan’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has previously issued a decree banning forced marriages of girls. Afghan courts and the ministry of vice and virtue have investigated thousands of such cases over the past year, he noted, demonstrating the Islamic Emirate’s commitment to women’s rights.
