UN Report Details Deepening Crisis for Afghan Women and Warns Against Normalising Taliban Rule
In a recent report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan delivered his most urgent warning yet, telling the United Nations’ General Assembly that Afghanistan is facing “the most extreme and systematic assault on gender equality in the world today.” In his latest report, Richard Bennett cautioned governments against normalizing relations with the Taliban, stressing that the human rights crisis continues to worsen and that there are “few grounds for optimism.”
Bennett’s findings confirm what Afghan women have been expressing since the Taliban’s return to power: nothing has improved. No restrictive edicts have been reversed. No space has reopened for women or girls. Instead, he described a country where corporal punishment is rising, former officials are being killed and disappearing, the media is suffocating under new constraints, and civil society operates under constant threat. The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate rapidly, amid major funding cuts that have forced aid organizations to scale back essential services, even as needs grow. Women humanitarian workers, once central to reaching families and keeping women safe, are being barred from doing their jobs, removing one of the last lifelines for communities in crisis.
According to the Special Rapporteur, this tightening system is beyond a collection of restrictive policies. It is rather an entrenched ideology that is reshaping Afghan society in ways the international community cannot afford to ignore. He warned that children in Afghanistan who are growing up without education or opportunity are being pushed toward conditions that could fuel deeper radicalization. The long-term consequences, he emphasized, will not be contained within Afghanistan’s borders.
Despite the gravity of these reports, some governments continue to signal an openness to restoring ties with the Taliban. Bennett urged states to resist any form of normalization until there are demonstrated, measurable, and independently verified improvements for women and girls. He made clear that the Taliban have provided none so far. Afghan women are still banned from education, most employment, public spaces, and participation in public life. The UN News report accompanying the Special Rapporteur’s statement reaffirmed that “not a single edict” restricting women’s rights has been reversed.
The report also warned that cuts to humanitarian and civil society funding are stripping away the last protections for women already living under gender apartheid, undermining access to food, medical care, informal education, and even the ability to document violence.
Yet Bennet stressed that accountability is still possible: the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders, and a new independent mechanism is now preserving evidence of serious crimes. This momentum shows that Afghanistan is not a lost cause, but he cautioned that progress could quickly unravel if governments continue engaging with the Taliban without conditions; even informal legitimacy would erode the pressure needed to hold perpetrators accountable.
For Afghan women, the stakes could not be any clearer. Every gesture towards normalization tells them their rights can be traded away for political convenience. Every meeting that sidelines the issue of gender apartheid reinforces the message that their lives are secondary to geopolitical interests.
Yet Afghan women have never stopped resisting. They have not given up hope that they will one day return to their classes. Underground classrooms continue to operate and non-profits led by and for Afghans continue to use their voice and amplify those of Afghan women despite impossible constraints. Their determination continues even as the world debates how, or whether, to respond.
Bennett’s message is not only a warning but a reminder: turning away now would undermine the foundations of the international human rights system itself. Governments cannot claim to support women’s rights while willingly engaging with a regime that has institutionalized their erasure from public life. And Afghanistan’s surrounding nations and our international community cannot afford the long-term instability that will grow from children denied education, families denied safety, and women denied agency.
What Afghanistan needs now is resolve rather than resignation. Afghan women have carried the burden of this crisis for more than four years, and they have never stopped fighting for their future. The question is ultimately whether the international community is willing to meet their courage with the political will needed to ensure that their rights are no longer treated as expendable.
