Taliban Divorce Decree Formalizes Child Marriage by Letting Silence Count as Consent

Overview

• The Taliban published a decree on Friday that rewrites divorce rules and treats a girl’s silence at puberty as consent to a marriage arranged by relatives.
• The text ties the validity of marriages for girls to puberty rather than a fixed age and says a girl may seek dissolution only after she reaches that stage.
• The Taliban spokesperson defended the measure, saying girls are not to be forced and that silence can signal assent under his interpretation of Islamic law.
• The UN mission in Afghanistan and human-rights groups condemned the decree as effectively permitting child marriage and warned it risks normalizing sexual and domestic violence.
• The change builds on post-2021 restrictions that bar girls from schooling after sixth grade and limit women’s access to courts, increasing the practical barriers for child brides to seek help.