The environment for civil society in Afghanistan is extremely constrained and is marked by the Taliban regime’s violent clampdown on civil society actors (CSAs) since their takeover in August 2021. Freedom of expression, assembly and association are now completely forbidden by Taliban policy, and human rights defenders (HRDs), women’s human rights defenders (WHRDs) and journalists are routinely harassed, unlawfully arrested and detained, and even tortured and killed. Since their takeover, the Taliban has built a system of gender apartheid that has severely restricted the rights of women, girls, and LGBTIQ persons, to the point of near total erasure from society.

The situation has led CSAs to self-censor, forcing many to operate from exile, work in secrecy, or halt their activities altogether. Although the de facto authorities have undermined all CSAs’ work, the impact on WHRDs has been more severe as they are targeted both for their work and their gender. The December 2022 ban on women working for NGOs is a clear example of this.

The Taliban have also dismantled the legal framework that once protected CSAs, replacing it with the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Law (PVPV), which establishes the Taliban’s version of Sharia law. Funding cuts from European and US governments have further eroded civil society’s enabling environment, and what little remains is hindered by Taliban demands for bribes from humanitarian workers. Public discourse often portrays international NGOs as Western spies. CSAs and citizens are also surveilled digitally and physically, and misinformation is widespread.