19.2.2026
Woman in Afghanistan continue to suffer degradation as the ruling Taliban government has passed a law permitting husbands to beat or abuse their wives as long as there is no serious bodily harm.
The 90-page penal code, which was signed by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada spells out punishment for people depending on their standing in society.
Article 9 of the code divides Afghan society into four categories: religious scholars (ulama), the elite (ashraf), the middle class, and the lower class.
In the code woman are placed on the same level as slaves and their husbands or slave masters can dish out punishment to any erring wife.
According to the code, corporal punishment for serious crimes will be carried out by Islamic clerics but encourages husbands to give out ‘discretionary punishments’ to their wives for less serious misdemeanors.
Regarding violence against women, Article 32 states that only if the husband beats the woman with a stick and this act results in severe injury such as ‘a wound or bodily bruising’, and the woman can prove it before a judge, will the husband be sentenced to fifteen days’ imprisonment. However, the contradiction lies in that a woman must remain fully covered while simultaneously proving her injuries to a judge.
She is also required to be accompanied by a male chaperone, which is usually the husband himself.
The new code also does not condemn or prohibit sexual or psychological violence against women. The code also prohibits women from escaping domestic violence.
The code, called De Mahakumu Jazaai Osulnama has been distributed across courts in the country, prompting waves of outrage online from activists outside Afghanistan.
Although citizens in the country are too afraid to speak out as it is, the Taliban passed another ruling stating that discussing the code would be deemed an offense.
Writing on X, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem said of the new laws: “The implications of this latest code for women and girls is simply terrifying.
‘The Taliban however have understood, and understood correctly, that no one will stop them. Will the international community prove them wrong? And if so, when?” Agency reports