Controversial Taliban Family Law Raises Concerns Over Child Marriage in Afghanistan

New Family Law Regulation by Taliban

The Taliban has enacted a contentious family law regulation that legitimizes marriages involving minors under specific circumstances, raising alarms about the rights of women and children in Afghanistan. This 31-article decree, named “Principles of Separation Between Spouses,” was published in the Taliban's official gazette following the endorsement of their supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. It empowers religious courts with extensive authority over marriage annulments and disputes, as reported by Amu TV.

The decree delineates various rules for dissolving marriages based on religious and legal grounds, including child marriage, absent husbands, apostasy, forced separations, breastfeeding relations, and adultery accusations. A particularly scrutinized section addresses “khiyar al-bulugh,” or the “option upon puberty,” which permits a child married at a young age to seek annulment upon reaching puberty. Article 5 specifies that if a minor's marriage is arranged by relatives other than their father or grandfather, the contract is valid if the partners are deemed socially compatible and the dowry is appropriate. Minors married before adulthood can only seek annulment after puberty and through a court order.

Another provision indicates that marriages with a “non-compatible” spouse or an excessively unfair dowry are invalid. The regulation also grants fathers and grandfathers significant control over child marriages, although it states that marriages may be annulled if guardians are abusive, mentally unfit, or morally corrupt. Several clauses reinforce conservative guardianship rules concerning women.

'Silence of virgin girl is consent'

The regulation has ignited outrage due to its provisions regarding consent and judicial authority. Article 7 asserts that a virgin girl's silence after reaching puberty can be interpreted as consent to marriage, while silence from a boy or a previously married woman does not automatically imply approval. Furthermore, the decree empowers Taliban religious courts to intervene in marital disputes based on broad religious grounds, including apostasy, prolonged absence of a husband, adultery allegations, and “zihar,” a traditional Islamic concept where a husband likens his wife to a forbidden female relative. Judges are authorized to enforce religious penalties or grant divorces under the “zihar” section, with the potential for imprisonment and physical punishment to ensure compliance.