The UN Security Council has reported that Taliban officials and forces have committed sexual violence against women. According to the report, UNAMA has documented 21 cases of sexual violence in 2025, including gang rapes involving 15 women and 6 girls.
The report states that Taliban officials and forces have subjected Afghan women to rape or gang rape. Some of the victims were also stripped naked or forced into marriage.
The report emphasizes that, despite the prohibition on forced marriage, Taliban officials are both perpetrators and facilitators of forced marriages.
A section of the report notes that the Taliban regime has arbitrarily arrested women protesters and subjected them to torture, mistreatment, and sexual violence.
Despite these findings, the United Nations has called on the Taliban to put an end to sexual violence and guarantee the rights of women and girls.
The report states that the current Taliban authorities have pursued repressive policies against Afghan women and girls.
These acts of violence have occurred amid severe humanitarian needs and complete impunity.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan has also stressed that women and girls have faced torture, mistreatment, and sexual violence in detention centers due to their protests or challenges to the Taliban’s gender policies.
Despite the announced ban on forced marriage in 2021, Taliban officials have been involved both in committing and in sustaining these marriages.
Severe Restrictions on Support Services
According to paragraph 17 of the report, frontline service providers continue to manage cases and provide legal aid, but overall access to services has significantly decreased due to budget shortages and severe restrictions on female humanitarian workers.
The report states that by July 2025, more than 400 health centers had been closed and hundreds of service points related to gender-based sexual violence had been deactivated. Taliban authorities have also prevented Afghan women working for the United Nations from entering UN buildings.
Lack of Justice and Accountability
The report highlights the absence of a clear legal framework for women’s access to justice. Complaints of sexual violence are mostly handled by male officials.
In October 2025, the UN Human Rights Council established an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan to collect and analyze evidence of international crimes and serious human rights violations against women and girls.
UN Secretary-General’s Recommendations
In paragraph 19 of the report, the UN Secretary-General called on the Taliban authorities to immediately stop all acts of sexual violence.
He also stressed the need to repeal all laws, policies, and practices that restrict the fundamental rights and freedoms of women and girls.
The Secretary-General urged the Taliban to fully comply with Afghanistan’s international obligations and Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2681 (2023), and to lift the ban on Afghan women’s employment in the United Nations and non-governmental organizations.
So far, the Taliban administration has not issued an official response to this UN report. Previously, numerous allegations of sexual violence by Taliban forces against Afghan women have been raised.
This report is part of a broader document that records a sharp global increase in conflict-related sexual violence in 2025.
The situation in Afghanistan has been highlighted as an example of the combination of institutionalized gender discrimination with direct violence.
Writer:Salima Hakimi
