Taliban's New Marriage Law Sparks International Outcry Over Legalization of Child Marriage

The international community and human rights advocates have sounded a loud alarm following the issuance of a new decree by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan concerning marriage and divorce procedures. The legislation has drawn sharp condemnation from the United Nations and various legal scholars, who argue that the new rules essentially institutionalize child marriage and strip young girls of their fundamental human rights.

At the center of the controversy are specific provisions within the Taliban's judicial mandates. Article 5 of the new decree explicitly grants guardians the authority to arrange marriages for minors, declaring such contracts legally binding. Even more concerning to human rights monitors is Article 7, which stipulates that the silence of a virgin who has reached puberty can be interpreted as consent to marriage. This clause effectively eliminates the necessity for explicit, voluntary agreement from the bride, leaving young girls vulnerable to forced unions.

Legal experts highlight a significant regression in the protection of minors compared to previous legal frameworks. Fereshta Abbasi, a human rights lawyer and researcher with Human Rights Watch, noted that the former civil code provided a safety net by setting the minimum marriage age at 16, with a narrow exception for marriage between 15 and 16 provided there was parental consent. The new Taliban decree, however, is conspicuously silent on any minimum age requirement, creating a legal vacuum that allows for the marriage of children of any age.

Georgette Gagnon, the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, warned that this decree does more than just permit child marriage; it institutionalizes a systemic culture of discrimination. She emphasized that when these laws are combined with existing bans on girls' education and the restriction of women's participation in public life, they create a comprehensive system designed to deprive Afghan women and girls of their autonomy, economic opportunities, and access to legal remedy.

According to Abbasi, these legal shifts are a direct violation of international treaties to which Afghanistan has historically been tied, specifically the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The legislation shifts immense power into the hands of male guardians while stripping women of almost all legal protections.

Further complicating the situation is the complete erasure of women from the Afghan legal system. Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, women have been barred from serving as lawyers or judges. This systemic exclusion means that women facing domestic violence or forced marriages have no female legal professionals to turn to for support or representation. While the new decree theoretically allows children to petition a court to annul a marriage after reaching puberty, the practical hurdles are nearly insurmountable. The law fails to define "puberty" clearly, and any legal application requires witnesses and the accompaniment of a male guardian (mahram), making the pursuit of justice a nearly impossible task for most girls.

Beyond the legal framework, a dire economic crisis is fueling the surge in child marriages. Reports indicate that approximately 85% of the Afghan population is struggling for basic survival. In this climate of extreme poverty, some families are forced to arrange the marriage of their daughters at a young age to secure "bride prices" from the groom's family, using these payments as a means of survival for the rest of the household.

Roqia Saee, a co-founder of the Movement for the Historical Transformation of Afghan Women, argues that by incorporating child marriage into the formal legal structure, the Taliban are not merely ignoring the practice but are actively ensuring its expansion and persistence across the country.