Taliban Imposes Blanket Ban on Women’s Books in Afghan Universities, Human Rights Studies Also Outlawed

Kabul: In a sweeping new restriction, the Taliban government has banned all books authored by women from Afghanistan’s universities as of September 2025. The move, confirmed by multiple reports, extends to around 140 titles written by women, spanning subjects such as science, law, journalism, and women’s studies.

The ban is part of a wider crackdown that also outlaws 18 university subjects, including Human Rights, Gender and Development, Women’s Sociology, Sexual Harassment, and Afghan Constitutional Law.

Officials say the decision was taken after a review by a panel of “religious scholars and experts,” aimed at ensuring all academic material aligns with the Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia and “system policies.”

The restrictions follow four years of escalating curbs on women’s education. Girls have already been barred from studying beyond sixth grade, while midwifery programmes were shut down in late 2024. With this latest order, even male students are now denied access to books authored by women.

The ban also extends to Iranian authors and publishers—310 of the 679 banned titles were linked to Iran—allegedly to block “foreign infiltration” in Afghan academia.

Academics warn of a severe knowledge gap. “Books by women and Iranian scholars formed a critical part of Afghanistan’s intellectual link to the global community. Their removal creates a major void in higher education,” one Kabul University professor said.

Former Afghan officials and rights advocates have condemned the move, calling it an effort to erase women’s voices from the country’s intellectual and cultural history. Critics also note that no other Muslim-majority country enforces such sweeping bans on women’s education and scholarship.

With this decree, the Taliban has further tightened its control over academic life, reinforcing what many see as a systematic attempt to erase women from public and educational spaces.