A new Taliban decree prohibits Afghan women from pursuing nursing and midwifery studies, representing another setback for women’s rights since the group’s takeover. This latest directive eliminates one of the few remaining educational opportunities available to women.
Manizha Bakhtari, Afghanistan’s ambassador to Austria, described the decision as devastating, crushing the aspirations of countless women hoping to educate themselves and serve their communities.
Human Rights Watch reports that Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada issued the decree, communicated through the Ministry of Public Health during a meeting with private medical institutions.
This follows previous Taliban bans on secondary and higher education for women, effectively extinguishing any remaining hope for Afghanistan’s young women.
Ambassador Bakhtari, also Afghanistan’s representative to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, stated that the ban constitutes a severe human rights violation and a major impediment to Afghanistan’s progress.
She emphasized that excluding women from crucial professions will exacerbate maternal and neonatal mortality, weakening the nation’s healthcare system and hindering its development.
Women enrolled in nursing and midwifery programs have been ordered to cease their studies. These fields previously offered women one of the few professional paths unaffected by the Taliban’s employment restrictions imposed since 2021.
UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett called the ban “inexplicable and unjustifiable” on X, highlighting its devastating consequences for the entire population and urging its immediate reversal.
Limited healthcare access and insufficient services have already left Afghanistan’s population vulnerable, even to treatable illnesses. Restricting women’s access to medical training further harms a population desperately in need of healthcare workers.
Rural areas will be disproportionately affected due to cultural norms preventing male doctors from treating female patients.
Afghanistan has among the world’s highest infant and maternal mortality rates, making childbirth exceptionally dangerous. The World Bank reports 620 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, while the World Health Organization estimated 24 daily maternal deaths in 2020.
The ban will likely worsen Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, exacerbated by the Taliban’s rise to power and subsequent reduction in international financial support due to their oppressive policies towards women.
Over 23 million people required humanitarian aid in 2023, according to the UN, which also reported 4 million Afghans, including 3.2 million children under 5, were malnourished.
Human Rights Watch notes that Afghanistan remains the only country globally where women and girls are barred from secondary and higher education, as well as many economic and governmental sectors.
The Taliban have broken their promises to uphold women’s rights. Following their takeover in September 2021, they initially banned girls from secondary school after the sixth grade, and later, in December 2022, prohibited women from higher education.
The UN and international NGOs have urged the Taliban to rescind this directive and other repressive policies targeting women.