Then And Now: Life For Afghan Women Since The 2021 Taliban Takeover
- By RFE/RL
For many Afghan women, especially those in conservative rural areas of the country, little has changed since the Taliban seized power in the country. For others, life under hard-line Islamist rule today looks vastly different from the two decades the country spent under US and NATO intervention.
1
Before the 2021 Taliban takeover: Members of a hiking club chat on a mountain on the outskirts of Kabul in September 2020.
Seven months after this image was taken, the Afghan Taliban launched an offensive that ended in August 2021 with NATO and allied troops evacuating and the Taliban seizing power in the country.
Seven months after this image was taken, the Afghan Taliban launched an offensive that ended in August 2021 with NATO and allied troops evacuating and the Taliban seizing power in the country.
2
After: Burqa-clad women walk along a snowy street in January 2026.
In August 2024 the Taliban imposed a "morality law" that placed severe restrictions on women, including a requirement to cover their faces when in public.
In August 2024 the Taliban imposed a "morality law" that placed severe restrictions on women, including a requirement to cover their faces when in public.
3
Before: Afghan women model traditional clothing at a fashion show in Kabul in December 2015.
4
After: Afghan men, carrying a banner that says "Save our values," protest against women's rights activists in Kabul in January 2022.
5
Before: A woman browses on her phone in the courtyard of a cafe in Kabul in August 2019.
6
After: Tinfoil-wrapped mannequins in a Kabul clothing store in July 2024. Following the Taliban’s August 2024 morality law that also forbade depictions of animate beings, many shop owners began concealing mannequin faces.
7
Before: An artist works in her studio in Kabul in August 2019.
8
After: Afghan women sit behind packages of food aid in the western city of Herat in March 2025.
9
Before: A female soldier in the Afghan National Army during an exercise in Kabul in October 2016.
10
After: A female television presenter (right) interviews a guest in a studio in Kabul in May 2022. Soon after coming to power, Taliban leadership called on female presenters to cover their faces.
11
Before: Afghan women at a bowling club in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif in November 2018.
12
After: An Afghan shopkeeper shows burqas of different colors to a customer in the southern city of Kandahar in February 2025.
