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While girls' and women's rights have drastically worsened after the Taliban resumed control of Afghanistan in 2021, "deep-rooted barriers" held women back long before then, the United Nations says.

In 2011, Afghanistan was named the most dangerous country to be a woman, according to an international poll of experts on gender issues.

High levels of violence, poor healthcare and poverty made Afghanistan the worst, the study by the Thomson Reuters Foundation said.

But there was progress, too. In 2004, a new constitution allocated 25% of parliamentarian and provincial council seats to women, as well as 30% of civil service positions.

It also bound Afghanistan to implement all international conventions on women's rights, and created a women's affairs ministry.

Since I was a child, studying has always been one of the biggest dreams of my life.

I studied until grade nine at high school and at that time I believed that like every other girl I would be able to finish school, and go to university and one day achieve my dreams.

But when the government collapsed everything changed for me and for thousands of other Afghan girls.

15 August, when the government fell, was the worst and most painful day of my life.

Every year when this date comes I feel as if an old wound opens again and a new feeling of defeat fills my heart.

That day I felt that many of the dreams I had carried inside me for years were suddenly taken away from me.

Yogita Limaye
Afghanistan correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

It has been evident to us for a long time that there are divisions within the Taliban government on the issue of women’s education.

Off camera, many Taliban officials we have met, including senior leaders, have confessed that they would like schools and universities to be reopened for female students.

But the Kandahar-based emir, or supreme leader, has remained intransigent and over the years has hardened his stance bringing more restrictions against women.

There has been no public breaking of ranks with the emir’s diktats, with the exception of remarks made early last year by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s former deputy foreign minister, who called for schools to be reopened for girls.

Soon after, he left the country and since then does not appear to have returned to Afghanistan.

I am a young Afghan woman. I completed my schooling with many difficulties because of challenges within my family.

Despite all these problems, I never gave up. I continued my education and successfully completed high school.

After that, I entered university and chose to study Law and Political Science because I wanted to support women who have suffered - by giving them a voice and defending their rights.

And I continued my studies with many difficulties because our family's economy was very poor. I even borrowed money for my university expenses.

To get to the university, I had to travel from the district to the city, which took me almost three hours to get to the university.

Now, due to the progress of my work, I lack financial resources and need the tools to stand on my own feet so that I can help other women.

Unfortunately, after some time, I was unable to continue my studies because of the changes and political situation in Afghanistan, which led to the closure of universities.

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Men and women took to the streets of the western city of Herat in June, days after local Taliban government officials reportedly began arresting women perceived to be "improperly wearing the hijab".

Taliban police used live fire to disperse the rare protest against the detention of women accused of violating strict Islamic dress codes, witnesses and protesters said.

Medics told the BBC two people died, but did not specify how. A number of others at the protest were injured.

Police in Herat denied there had been any deaths, but have acknowledged they responded to the protest, telling the BBC that officers had "taken action to ensure security and maintain public order".

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During the republic, I prepared with great enthusiasm and interest and went to TV with energy and hope. I read the news and felt happy that I was present in society and doing what I loved.

I had many hopes and dreams for my future and believed that I could progress and achieve my dreams.

But with the change of regime, my life changed completely. I was away from work and social activities and was forced to stay home. It was as if all the hopes and dreams that I had worked for for years were suddenly buried under the ground.

Today, I spend most of my time at home, preparing bread for my husband, washing clothes, sweeping the house, and doing daily household chores.

Doing housework is valuable in itself, but it is very difficult and burdensome for me because I was a woman who worked outside the home, read the news, had goals, and dreamed about my future.

My greatest pain is that not only did I lose my job, but part of my identity, independence, and hope for the future was taken away from me.

Those same dreams are still alive in my heart, and I hope that one day I will have the opportunity to return to what I love and rebuild the life I dreamed of for myself.

Yogita Limaye
Afghanistan correspondent

“We are going to allow women to study and work within our framework," the Taliban had announced in their first news conference shortly after seizing power.

Since then we have repeatedly questioned Taliban government spokesmen on why education remains closed for teenage girls and women.

Over the years we have had varying replies.

First they said that families themselves do not want to send girls to school. When challenged, a Taliban spokesman changed his response to ‘the security situation needs to be improved before schools can be reopened’.

The next year another spokesman told us they had to allay the ‘concerns of religious scholars’.

In 2023 and 2024, we were told that education is an important issue for the Taliban government and that its leaders are working to resolve the situation.

Since then, though, the answer has changed to a more evasive ‘ask the education ministry’.

We have asked the education ministry too but so far we have not received a reply.

Earlier we heard from Maryam, a midwife in an area where one female doctor and one midwife serve a population of around 50,000 people.

Alongside her work as a midwife, Maryam completed a six-month training course in obstetric ultrasound and now performs ultrasound scans.

I was studying midwifery at university when universities were closed to women.

I then enrolled at a medical institute to continue my studies, but that was closed too.

If I am not here, many women cannot be examined because families often do not allow male health workers to examine female patients.

For context: Before she started working there, there was no woman providing ultrasound services in the area. Women had to travel around three hours on poor roads to another clinic for a scan.

The journey is very difficult for pregnant women.

It is expensive as well, and most families here are very poor.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

According to the Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan currently has around 6,000 midwives - almost the same number reported during the final months of the former republic.

Two years ago, the UN said Afghanistan needed 18,000 additional midwives on top of those already working.

Since the Taliban banned women from attending medical institutes in late 2024, the training pipeline for new midwives has effectively stopped.

At the same time, Afghanistan's population continues to grow, increasing the demand for healthcare workers.

The UN estimates that Afghanistan's population will reach 48.6 million this year - with more than 1.5 million babies born annually.

Maryam is a midwife in an area where one female doctor and one midwife serve a population of around 50,000 people, and is expecting a baby girl.

Sometimes I think about my daughter's future.

If things continue like this, what will happen to her? She will not even have the chance to finish school like I did, let alone go to university.

If one day she gets married, becomes pregnant and needs a female doctor during childbirth, what if there isn't one? This is a matter of life and death.

I am a midwife. I have seen mothers die. I know this is not only my concern.

I believe it is the concern of every mother in Afghanistan.

Yogita Limaye
Afghanistan correspondent

To enter the country to report in Afghanistan, foreign journalists must receive permission from the Taliban government’s foreign ministry.

That is usually just the first step in the process.

Once on the ground, depending on what you want to cover, including if it is filming on the streets of Kabul or at a hospital or traveling to other provinces, other departments and ministries would need to be approached for approvals.

However, we are able to operate independently on the ground with no minders or officials accompanying us.

During interviews with Taliban officials, we have had editorial independence to ask any questions we had.

As a reminder, here's a timeline of how the Taliban has tightened restrictions on women and girls over the past five years:

September 2021: Secondary schools reopened for boys not girls.

December 2021: Women traveling long distances must be escorted by male relative.

May 2022: Women ordered to be covered from head to toe, only eyes visible.

November 2022: Women barred from parks, gyms, swimming pools, public baths.

December 2022: Women barred from university.

July 2023: Beauty salons closed.

August 2024: New law barring women from raising voices in public.

December 2024: Women banned from midwife and nursing training.

December 2024: Taliban bars all NGOs from employing Afghan women.

September 2025: Afghan women banned from visiting UN headquarters.

May 2026: Law codified implying legal approval for child marriage, says silence of minor girl can be treated as consent to marriage.

The Taliban retook control in 2021, two decades after being removed from power by a US-led military coalition.

They advanced rapidly across the country, seizing province after province before taking the capital Kabul on 15 August that year as the Afghan military collapsed.

Foreign forces, which had agreed to leave, were stunned by the speed of the advance and had to accelerate their exit. Many Western-backed Afghan government leaders fled, while thousands of their compatriots and foreigners, fearing Taliban rule, scrambled to find room on flights out of the country.

Within weeks, the Taliban were in control of all of Afghanistan - something they had not managed to do in their first stint in power between 1996 and 2001.

Read more about their rise to power: How the Taliban stormed across Afghanistan in 10 days

Image source, Getty Images

The Taliban, or "students" in the Pashto language, emerged in the early 1990s in northern Pakistan, following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

The group first took power in Afghanistan in 1996 but were ousted by a US-led military coalition in 2001.

Twenty years of war followed, during which tens of thousands of people were killed and millions were displaced, before the Taliban resumed control of the country in 2021.

The Islamist group believes in an austere version of Islamic law, known as Sharia, which, alongside imposing a strict morality code on women, has involved public executions of convicted murderers and adulterers.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

It’s almost 07:30 in Kabul (04:00 BST) and we are beginning a day of coverage on the lives of Afghan women and girls.

We will be speaking to women across Afghanistan - from the heart of Kabul to the depths of the countryside.

They are all ages, and from many walks of life; including a jewellery maker, a student, and a former journalist.

Along with the roughly 22 million women living in Afghanistan, they have spent the last five years living under the Taliban government. It has barred access to school for girls over 12, placed restrictions on travel without a male chaperone, and codified a law implying legal approval for child marriage.

The restrictions impact almost every part of their lives, and make it difficult to tell their stories. Many of the women we are speaking to today will not be using their own names because they fear reprisals.

We hope to show a small window on their world - as told by the women and girls themselves.

So please stay with us as we bring you their stories.