The Feminist Majority Foundation has issued a new report warning about the worsening state of women’s health in Afghanistan and calling for increased international pressure on the Taliban to ensure women’s rights and improve their access to healthcare services.
The report states that restrictions imposed by the Taliban, especially the requirement for a male guardian, have become a major barrier to women’s access to medical care and reproductive health services.
The human rights foundation emphasized that “most women arrive at hospitals in critical condition, and sometimes it is not possible to help them because they are denied access to care in the absence of a male guardian.”
The Feminist Majority Foundation added that the Taliban’s disregard for women’s rights has led to a rise in maternal mortality across the country.
This warning comes as the United Nations has predicted that by 2026, the risk of maternal death in Afghanistan could increase by up to 50 percent.
In addition, following Donald Trump’s decision to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and begin the process of withdrawing the United States from the World Health Organization, humanitarian funding in Afghanistan has faced greater challenges.
Moreover, since the Taliban came to power, the country’s healthcare sector has entered a serious crisis. Although the group has expressed a willingness to cooperate with foreign countries to strengthen the health system, its own restrictive policies, particularly toward women, remain a fundamental obstacle to the delivery of health services.
