Taliban ‘legitimising child marriage’ with new law, activists warn

Up to 70% of girls may be in early or forced marriages but law now makes divorce impossible if husbands disagree Child marriage appears to have been legally recognised for the first time by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as activists say “shameful” new laws make it almost impossible for girls and young women to seek divorce against their husbands’ will. There are no official statistics on forced and underage marriages in Afghanistan, but activists say it has risen at an alarming rate in recent years, driven by the ban on girls being in education after the age of 11. One informal estimate suggested that since the Taliban had barred them from education about 70% had been pushed into early or forced marriage and that 66% of these marriages involved girls under the age of 18. There is no ban on child marriage in Afghanistan under the Taliban, but a new law on divorce approved last week appears to suggest that a girl who later says she was married against her will would not be permitted a divorce if her husband disagrees. The new law also appears to suggest that a woman cannot divorce her husband solely on the grounds of his absence or failure to provide financial support. There have