UN CONDEMNS AFGHAN TALIBAN DECREE THAT ALLOWS GIRLS' SILENCE AT PUBERTY AS CONSENT TO MARRIAGE

The United Nations expressed "grave concern" Thursday over a new decree issued by Afghanistan's Taliban government, warning that provisions within a law on marital separation effectively permit child marriage. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA, said Decree No. 18 — published by the Taliban's justice ministry last week — represents a further erosion of protections for women and girls in the country.

Among the decree's most contested provisions, the text states that a girl's silence upon reaching puberty can be interpreted as consent to marriage. The decree also addresses the separation of girls who reach puberty while married, which UNAMA said "implies that child marriage is permitted," according to reporting by NPR and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The Taliban government rejected the criticism, saying the decree is consistent with Islamic law and that forced marriage of girls remains prohibited. Rights organizations say the provisions contradict international norms and compound a pattern of legal decrees that have progressively stripped Afghan women of protections, including bans on secondary and university education in place since 2021.

UNAMA stated that "successive decrees have undermined" existing protections, and that the combined effect of Taliban governance has "deprived millions of Afghan women and girls of their right to education, weakened economic participation, and deepened poverty." The European Union and several Western governments swiftly condemned the decree following its publication.