Experts warn of ‘genocidal’ policy against women in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan — Girls as young as 12 are being forced into child marriage in Afghanistan as families struggle to survive amid widespread poverty and escalating restrictions under Taliban rule, according to a recent analysis.
Families are increasingly using their daughters to secure dowries, with younger girls commanding higher prices. The practice has become a desperate survival tactic as the country’s economic situation deteriorates.
The Taliban has further tightened its grip by banning women and girls from working or studying beyond the primary school level. This mandate has transformed universities and medical colleges into male-only institutions.
The education ban is expected to create a total collapse in healthcare for women. Because the Taliban prohibits women from being treated by male doctors, the female population will lose all access to medical care once the current generation of female doctors, midwives, and nurses retires.
Dr. Carol Mann, president of the Paris-based organization Femaid, described these policies as a unique form of "genocide" targeting women. Mann also criticized the international community for its perceived silence as the crisis unfolds.
Saigon Sentinel Analysis
Dr. Carol Mann’s assessment transcends the documentation of a human rights crisis; it details the systemic collapse of Afghanistan’s healthcare infrastructure for women. Her characterization of these developments as a "genocidal policy" represents a significant analytical escalation, shifting the discourse from institutionalized oppression to a deliberate campaign intended to inflict widespread, lethal harm.
The most profound risk lies in the irreversible nature of the Taliban’s education ban. This is more than a denial of opportunity; by obstructing the training of a new generation of female medical professionals, the regime is engineering a permanent demographic vacuum. In a society where women are strictly prohibited from seeking care from male physicians, this policy effectively functions as a death sentence for those facing obstetric complications or chronic gynecological conditions.
The convergence of forced early marriage—which inevitably leads to high-risk pregnancies—and the systematic removal of the medical infrastructure required to treat them has created a lethal feedback loop. The international community’s relative silence, as noted in the correspondence, reflects a stark geopolitical impasse: Western powers possess dwindling leverage over the Taliban leadership, while existing sanctions often exacerbate the suffering of the very populations they are intended to protect.