Afghanistan marks five years of Taliban rule as women's rights erode

Afghanistan recently marked the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power. The focus of this edition is the impact of that event on the country’s social and political landscape.

Since the Taliban regained control, the exclusion of women and girls has become normalised. The government has systematically dismantled the rights of more than half the country’s population, reinforcing a pattern of gender-based discrimination.

The fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power has coincided with the normalisation of women’s and girls’ exclusion and the systematic dismantling of rights for more than half the country’s population.