Since the collapse of the Afghan government in August 2021 following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces and the return of the Taliban to power, Afghanistan has witnessed one of the most dramatic reversals of women’s rights in modern history. According to Amnesty International, the Taliban dismantled the 2004 Constitution and suspended many of the legal protections that previously safeguarded women and girls. In its place, a system of decrees rooted in the group’s interpretation of religion has reshaped Afghan society, with women bearing the brunt of the consequences.

The restrictions are sweeping and deliberate. UNESCO reports that more than 1.4 million girls have been banned from secondary education since 2021, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where girls are prohibited from schooling beyond primary level. Women have been barred from most employment, restricted from traveling long distances without a male guardian, excluded from public parks, gyms, and sports. More recently are the legal developments endorsed by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, that institutionalize “disciplinary” measures within families that normalize domestic abuse under religious justification.

Afghanistan may seem geographically distant from Africa, but the underlying lesson is not. The erosion of rights rarely begins with an overnight collapse; it begins gradually when cultural and religious interpretations are allowed to override constitutional guarantees of equality and dignity.

According to UNICEF, 30.3 percent of girls in Nigeria marry or enter a union before age 18, and 12.3 percent marry before age 15, amounting to more than 22 million child brides, the highest number in Africa. In Somalia, the government ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in 2025 but emphasized that the national constitution and Islamic teachings remain the supreme legal authorities guiding interpretation and implementation. In The Gambia, lawmakers in 2024 attempted to reverse the 2015 ban on Female Genital Mutilation, even though UNICEF data shows that 73 percent of women aged 15 to 49 have undergone FGM. These developments show that legal gains can be challenged and even reversed.

The pattern is clear. Where constitutions promise equality but enforcement yields to rigid interpretations of culture and religion, women’s rights become negotiable. Africa is not Afghanistan, and its political landscapes are diverse, but complacency would be dangerous. The continent has already adopted robust human rights instruments. The African Union’s Maputo Protocol remains one of the most progressive regional frameworks for women’s rights globally, guaranteeing protection from harmful practices, equal rights in marriage, and reproductive autonomy. However, ratification alone is not enough. Without enforcement, women remain vulnerable to customary or religious systems that may contradict constitutional protections.

Regional bodies such as ECOWAS, the East African Community, and SADC must strengthen accountability for member states that fail to protect women’s rights. Monitoring and consequences for non-compliance should be taken seriously. Legal reform must also involve communities. Religious and traditional leaders should be part of conversations that promote interpretations which protect dignity rather than justify harm.

Women’s rights are not Western constructs. They are constitutional commitments and human guarantees. Afghanistan stands today as a stark illustration of what happens when governance becomes captive to exclusionary interpretations of culture and religion. Africa must ensure that its laws are built not on fear or dogma, but on dignity, equality, and the protection of fundamental rights.

Oluwabukola Adimula is a writer and researcher focused on free market, women’s and girls’ rights in Africa. Her work examines how laws and institutions shape opportunities and outcomes for women and girls across the continent.