The Taliban took control of Afghanistan again in 2021. Since then, they have stopped girls from going to secondary school and university. Many women cannot work. Women cannot travel alone or visit parks. Taliban leaders say they follow Islamic law.

In northern Afghanistan, an 18-year-old woman asked Governor Abdullah Sarhadi for help. She said her husband had beaten her for months. She wanted a divorce. The governor told her to stay with her husband. He said her husband should give her a separate room and stop beating her. Her family plans to ask a court for a divorce, but this is very hard without the husband’s agreement.

Sarhadi was a Taliban army leader in the 1990s. He said he helped destroy two old Buddha statues in Bamiyan and did not feel sorry. He also said a new ban on smartphones for officials makes work slower. Many people in Afghanistan are poor and have no jobs. Some women say the Taliban fear educated women. They believe women will continue to oppose these rules.