Unhealthy Obsessions underlines how Taliban policies are resulting in a rapid deterioration in women’s ability to get medical treatment.
Access to health care is restricted and an already patchy healthservice has been severely reduced. Women working in the health sector have been systematically removed; and midwifery and nursing training suspended. The negative impacts of gender-based restrictions on women’s access to healthcare looks likely to worsen with dire implications for maternity care and children, and therefore for female life expectancy and infant mortality levels.
The research, funded by the LSE and led by the Centre for Women, Peace and Security was conducted in Afghanistan in 2025 by a small teamo f health care professionals and health sector experts. Their brief was to examine the impact of the Taliban’s Edicts in relation to women’s health. Despite challenging circumstances, over a hundred women were interviewed.
The main findings reveal three worrying trends. First, there are barriers to accessing even basic health services for over half of women and girls. Secondly, the data exposes the extent of female distress and an unfolding mental healthcrisis. Finally, it shows that these impacts are understood by most women to stem from the regime’s attempt to restrict women to the home, and to remove them from professional roles, even those related to health care. Ministerial edicts are seen (and experienced) by many as the root cause of a spiralling decline in women’s health and well-being.
You can download the full report here.