Taliban Bans Books by Women, Outlaws Human Rights and Sexual Harassment Studies

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Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have ordered the removal of hundreds of books from university teaching systems, including works authored by women, as part of sweeping new restrictions on higher education.

BBC reported that according to guidelines issued in late August, 680 titles were flagged as being “of concern” for allegedly containing material contrary to Sharia and Taliban policy. Of those, 140 were written by women. 

Banned titles include works on science, such as Safety in the Chemical Laboratory.

Alongside the book ban, universities were also barred from teaching human rights and sexual harassment as part of a wider prohibition on 18 subjects, six of them focused on women, including Gender and Development, Women’s Sociology and The Role of Women in Communication.

A Taliban official said the subjects “conflicted with the principles of Sharia and the system’s policy.”

A committee member confirmed to BBC Afghan that “all books authored by women are not allowed to be taught.” 

Afghan spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid

The decree follows a series of measures restricting women’s education, including the closure of midwifery courses in 2024 and the long-standing ban on schooling beyond the sixth grade.

The crackdown also extends to foreign works. More than 300 books by Iranian authors or publishers were barred, with officials citing fears of “Iranian content infiltration.” 

Relations between Kabul and Tehran have been strained, particularly over water rights and the forced return of more than 1.5 million Afghans from Iran this year.

Academics expressed concern about the impact on teaching. 

“Books by Iranian authors and translators serve as the primary link between Afghanistan’s universities and the global academic community,” one professor said. “Their removal creates a substantial void in higher education.”

The new measures come the same week the Taliban’s supreme leader ordered a ban on fibre-optic internet in at least 10 provinces, a move officials said was intended to prevent “immorality.”

The Ministry of Higher Education has not publicly commented on the bans