The Taliban recently enacted a sweeping new penal code that explicitly permits husbands to physically punish their wives and children, as long as the abuse does not result in broken bones or open wounds
The provision is embedded in a sweeping 119-article decree signed in January by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and circulated to courts nationwide. Rights advocates say it marks one of the clearest legal endorsements of domestic violence since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Under Article 32, a husband who beats his wife severely enough to cause a visible wound or bruise faces only 15 days in prison, and only if the woman can prove her case before a judge. The burden of proof rests entirely on the survivor, while other forms of physical, psychological, and sexual violence are not explicitly prohibited under the code. The Taliban have also dismantled the entire judicial system, established under the former Republic regime. This means Afghan women have almost no access to the justice system.
The decree goes further as it authorizes husbands and heads of households to determine and carry out punishments within their homes. By distinguishing between religiously prescribed punishments and discretionary punishments, the code effectively grants men legal cover to “discipline” women.
At the same time, women who leave their marital homes without permission face harsher penalties. A woman who visits her father’s house and remains there without her husband’s consent can be sentenced to three months in prison, as can relatives who shelter her. For women fleeing abuse, this provision effectively criminalizes seeking refuge.
The international reaction has been swift, yet quiet as news of the law has gone relatively unreported and has failed to hit major headlines. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said the decree contravenes Afghanistan’s international legal obligations and urged authorities to rescind it.
U.N. Women’s Special Representative in Afghanistan, Susan Ferguson, warned that the code “formally removes equality between men and women before the law” and places husbands in a position of authority over their wives.
In a stark illustration of the law’s priorities, the code prescribes five months in prison for organizing animal fights, a punishment significantly harsher than the 15-day sentence for wife-beating.
Legal scholars and rights advocates say the new penal code is not an isolated measure but part of a broader campaign. Since August 2021, the Taliban have issued more than 250 edicts and decrees, at least 157 of which directly target the rights of women and girls. In December 2025, the Permanent People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan concluded that the Taliban’s actions constitute crimes against humanity under the Rome Statute.
For Afghan women and girls, the consequences are immediate and severe. The penal code strips away what little legal protection remained, narrows avenues for escape from violence, and codifies male dominance within the household.
In a country where women have already been barred from secondary and higher education, excluded from most employment, and restricted in movement, the legalization of domestic violence entrenches a system in which abuse is not only tolerated but sanctioned by law. This decree, hidden in a revision of criminal procedure, signals a deliberate choice to institutionalize gender-based violence as a governing principle.
The international community must respond with urgency. Governments and multilateral institutions should publicly condemn the decree, increase targeted support for Afghan women’s organizations, and advance efforts to hold Taliban leaders accountable under international law. Silence risks normalizing a legal system that authorizes harm and cruelty against half the population.
Afghan women continue to resist, document abuses, and raise their voices despite a system that now places the force of law behind the violence they endure inside their own homes. At this point, their courage is simply a daily act of survival in a country where seeking protection can itself lead to imprisonment.
The international community cannot allow this to stand as Afghanistan’s new normal. Public condemnation without meaningful consequence will only reinforce the message that such laws carry no cost. If accountability is to mean anything, it must move beyond rhetoric and take shape in policy, pressure, and sustained action that makes clear this codification of abuse will not be legitimized or ignored.
