Topic analysis

Taliban ‘legitimising child marriage’ with new law, activists warn

The Taliban in Afghanistan has approved a new divorce law that activists and the UN say legitimizes child marriage by making it nearly impossible for girls and young women to obtain a divorce without their husband’s consent. This comes amid a surge in early and forced marriages since the group banned girls from education after age 11, prompting condemnation from UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), human rights organizations, and women’s rights activists who call the law an erosion of women’s rights; a Taliban spokesman dismissed the criticism as coming from opponents of its Islamic system.