epaselect epa11847456 Students attend a graduation ceremony for Afghan girls at Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani Religious School in Kabul, Afghanistan, 23 January 2025. Around 260 Afghan girls graduated from the religious school after completing their religious studies along with the academic curriculum. According to the Taliban Ministry of Education, there are over 18,000 public and private schools in Afghanistan serving more than 10 million students, while more than 21,000 religious schools have over three million enrolled students. Many graduates are advocating for the reopening of schools for girls, as those who completed sixth grade in the past three years have largely been confined to domestic roles due to the suspension of their education. EPA/SAMIULLAH POPAL
The Taliban’s leader signed the new penal code into law (Picture: EPA)

The Taliban has introduced a new penal code which allows husbands to abuse their wives and children, as long as it doesn’t break bones or cause ‘open wounds’.

The barbaric code, signed into law by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, would still prosecute those who cause visible fractures or injuries.

But the abuser would only be convicted if the woman can prove abuse in court – showing her wounds to the judge, while remaining fully covered.

If the man is convicted, he would only face a maximum of a 15-day sentence in prison.

The law has no mention of protecting children from assault and abuse, both physical, mental and sexual.

The law also mentions that if a woman goes to her father’s or another family member’s house without her husband’s permission and doesn’t return home, they will be thrown in prison for three months.

‘The totality of these provisions stands in clear contradiction to the principle of equality, the prohibition of gender discrimination, the prohibition of violence against women, and the right to human dignity, and seriously increases the risk of intensifying and institutionalising violence against women,’ Rawadari, a human rights organisation, said.

An Afghan burqa-clad woman arrives in the midst of a downpour to receive food supplies donated during the Islamic holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kabul on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Wakil KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)
The woman would have to show her wounds – while remaining covered – in court (Picture: AFP)

Since retaking power over Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has cracked down on human rights, especially harming women.

In 2024, the government passed a law banning women from reading and singing in public.

The laws were part of a strict new set of ‘vice and virtue legislation’, which was approved by Supreme Leader Akhundzada.

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They cover aspects of everyday life like public transportation, music, shaving and celebrations. 

Article 13 specifically relates to women, making it mandatory for females to veil their bodies at all times in public while emphasising that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation as well as tempting others. It also states that clothing should not be thin, tight or short.

In addition, women are now forbidden from singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public, since the female voice is considered too intimate.

They are also banned from looking at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.

Women are also told to cover themselves in front of non-Muslim males and females to avoid being corrupted. 

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