The Digest:
The Taliban has introduced a new 90-page penal code in Afghanistan that effectively legalises domestic violence by criminalising only abuse resulting in "broken bones or open wounds," according to human rights group Rawadari . Under Article 32, husbands who beat their wives with "obscene force" causing visible fractures face a maximum of just 15 days imprisonment, provided the wife can prove the abuse in court . Other forms of physical, psychological, or sexual violence are not explicitly prohibited . The code also allows imprisonment of women for up to three months if they visit relatives without their husband's permission . The law replaces the 2009 Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law and has been condemned by the UN Security Council, which called for its repeal .
Key Points:
- The code creates a dangerous legal framework where non-fracture domestic violence is effectively permitted, endangering millions of Afghan women and children .
- Women's rights activists warn that the high evidentiary threshold makes justice virtually impossible for abuse victims .
- The law's requirement for women to obtain husband's permission to visit family removes a critical escape route for those fleeing domestic violence .
- This signals the Taliban's systematic dismantling of women's legal protections, with the UN warning it undermines efforts to reintegrate Afghanistan internationally .
- The timing, following international calls for inclusive governance, represents a deliberate rejection of global human rights standards .
The UN and human rights groups are urgently calling on the Taliban to halt implementation and on the international community to use all legal instruments to prevent the code's enforcement.
Sources: Daily Mirror , Rukhshana Media , UN Security Council Statement , Rawadari
