Submission ID 131510
| Issue/Objective | Afghanistan represents one of the most severe contemporary contexts of institutionalized gender-based oppression, where the Taliban's return to power in 2021 has systematically dismantled women's access to education, mobility, and public life. Yet the consequences for women's sexual and reproductive health (SRH) remain critically understudied. The assumption that healthcare has been insulated from Taliban governance is both prevalent and empirically unfounded. This study challenges that assumption directly, examining how gender apartheid, legal restrictions, and patriarchal control intersect to undermine women's reproductive autonomy,situating SRH within broader struggles over bodily autonomy, political accountability, and human rights. |
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| Methodology/Approach | This qualitative study draws primarily on systematic analysis of reports from international organizations, human rights agencies, and peer-reviewed literature on women's reproductive health in Afghanistan to examine how political, legal, and economic forces shape women's reproductive health under Taliban governance.These findings are complemented by in-depth interviews with three healthcare professionals actively practicing in Herat city and surrounding rural areas since August 2021. Interview data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis and interpreted through reproductive justice and intersectionality frameworks. |
| Results | Findings document intersecting structural barriers that systematically deny women reproductive autonomy. Restricted mobility, male-controlled decision-making, and a shortage of female specialists severely constrain access to timely care. Economic collapse renders transportation and medications unaffordable, leaving women unable to complete treatment during pregnancy.One gynecologist in Herat reported 12 to 25 neonatal deaths monthly, with maternal deaths largely attributable to delayed care linked to the surge in child marriage since 2021. Abortion prohibition drives women toward life-threatening clandestine methods. Women's reproductive lives are governed by the de facto regime and patriarchal control, leaving almost no space for autonomous choice. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | These findings demonstrate that even where medical facilities formally remain open, it must not be mistaken for progress; political control, economic deprivation, and patriarchal governance collectively constitute a complete denial of reproductive justice.Afghanistan's reproductive health crisis is not a byproduct of culture or conflict, but a direct and accountable consequence of political structures that govern women's bodies while excluding them from decision-making.This study calls on global health actors, policymakers, and researchers to treat reproductive autonomy as a non-negotiable dimension of health. |
| Presenters and Affiliations | Kimia Habibyar York University/Impact Paradigm Kimia Habibyar York University/Impact Paradigm |
