Overview
- Universities were instructed that books written by women cannot be used for teaching, according to a member of the Taliban-appointed review commission quoted by the BBC.
- Roughly 680 titles were flagged as concerning, including about 140 authored by women, with examples ranging from technical manuals to social science texts.
- Teaching is no longer permitted for 18 subjects judged to conflict with Sharia, including human rights and sexual harassment, with six areas explicitly focused on women such as gender and development.
- The guidelines were issued at the end of August and seen by BBC Afghan, with notifications reaching universities in mid-September as enforcement expands.
- Officials say women’s rights are respected under their interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law, as parallel restrictions continue, including a recent fiber‑optic ban in at least 10 provinces.