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Banned from education, ‘idle’ Afghan girls are married off
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No choice: Maryam talks with her father Qadir during an interview with AFP at a house in Charikar, Parwan province. “I wanted them to complete university education because I had worked hard for it,” said Qadir, whose salary has been almost halved under Taliban rule. “In Afghanistan, girls do not get many opportunities, and proposals for marriage stop coming after a time.” (AFP/Wakil Kohsar)
Under Taliban rule, teenage girls in Afghanistan are banned from schools, prompting parents to marry them off to much older men.
Thirteen-year-old Zainab should have been shopping for a new school uniform this autumn but, with no prospect of girls' schools reopening in Afghanistan, she was instead forced to pick out a wedding dress.
Since the Taliban seized power in Kabul and banned teenage girls from education, many have been married off—often to much older men of their father's choice.
"I cried a lot and kept telling my father that the Taliban would reopen girls' schools," Zainab said.
"But he said that's not going to happen, and it's better that I get married rather than sit idle at home."
Her wedding date was fixed within hours of the would-be groom arriving with an offer of a few sheep, goats and four sacks of rice as a bride price—a centuries-old custom for many in rural Afghanistan.
As is traditional, Zainab moved in with her new in-laws and husband—who is 17 years older than her.
