As Taliban fighters and suicide bombers arrived, people’s bitter and painful memories of the first Taliban regime resurfaced. Despite their promises and claims of change, the Taliban continue to exclude women from all areas of life. Their widespread restrictions have led to a rise in forced and early marriages in Herat. Some girls, coerced by their families into marrying Taliban members, lament, “We wish the Taliban hadn’t come, and we wouldn’t be so miserable.”
Residents of Herat confirm that the Taliban’s takeover has intensified fears among girls and their families, worried about reliving the harsh experiences of the first Taliban rule. Accounts from that time reveal how the Taliban forcibly married young girls and beautiful women across many parts of the country or took women as wives after forcing them to divorce their husbands.
Since the Taliban’s return, young girls and women have been forced into marriage despite neither they nor their families planning for early marriage. However, the Taliban’s resurgence and the accompanying fears have pushed them into unwanted unions.
Fakhria (pseudonym), a ninth-grade student in Herat, says she was forced into marriage after the Taliban’s return. She adds that she was not ready for marriage, but the Taliban’s dominance made her family decide on her marriage.
Fakhria explains that she had hoped to continue her education, but as she puts it, “The Taliban’s dark rule brought a dark fate to my life.”
This girl, deprived of education and a victim of the Taliban’s discriminatory policies, states, “I was in the 9th grade at Hatefi High School. Neither I nor my family had any thoughts of marriage because my age did not call for it. I was focused on continuing my education.”
This girl, who was forced into marriage due to the Taliban’s extremist policies, adds, “When the Taliban came, fear took hold of my family and father. My father would always tell others that his daughter had grown up, and that’s how a suitor came, and without my consent, I was married off. Now, I’ve been a housewife for a year and a half. I feel like all my dreams have been shattered, and I see myself as unlucky. I keep telling myself that I wish the Taliban hadn’t come, and we wouldn’t have become so miserable.”
Meanwhile, some young girls in Herat report that in addition to early and forced marriages, some girls have been married off to Taliban members due to their power and wealth. They say that although these Taliban members already had wives, their power and the large sums of money they paid as dowries led to these young girls becoming second, third, or fourth wives.
Azita, a young girl in Herat, was forced by her family to become a second wife to a Taliban member. She explains that after waiting years to marry the man of her choice, her father married her off as a second wife to a Taliban member for 700,000 Afghanis. Despite her opposition, Azita was forced into this marriage through humiliation and threats from her family.
Azita, who unwillingly entered this forced marriage, says she had no choice but to marry a man who had already married six years ago.
This young girl, now a wife to a Taliban member, states, “Just as boys have the right to choose the wife they desire, we girls also have that right. Unfortunately, with the arrival of the Taliban, this right was taken away from us. Like me, a young girl was bargained away by her father and brothers and became the second wife of a Taliban member.”
Azita adds, “One of the Taliban members who was our neighbor sent a proposal to my father. Since he had a lot of money, it blinded my father’s judgment, and he gave me away as a second wife. I begged and pleaded, saying I wouldn’t accept this marriage, but since the suitor was a Taliban member and, on top of that, offered 700,000 Afghanis as dowry, my father and brothers insulted and threatened me and traded me off in marriage.”
Khadija (pseudonym), another girl in Herat province, says she became the third wife of a Taliban member. She adds that her husband works in one of the government offices in the center of Herat province and has married twice since the Taliban’s return.
Khadija tells the Hasht-e Subh Daily, “My husband had one wife, but when the Taliban came and took over the cities, he took a second wife. Less than two years later, he sent a proposal to my father. Because the Taliban member had power and a lot of money, my family, without asking me, gave me away to this Taliban member. Now, as a young girl, I’m the third wife of a Taliban member.”
Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the number of forced marriages has increased, and many members and commanders of the group have taken second and third wives.
You can read the Persian version of this daily report here:
