What changed

European Parliament resolution on the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

B100249/2026

European Parliament resolution on the Situation of women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban's adoption of the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts

(2026/2737(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to itsRule previous150 resolutionsof onits Afghanistan,Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to Rules 150(5) andits 136(4)previous ofhuman itsrights Rulesresolutions ofon Procedure,Afghanistan,

A. whereas since the Taliban’s illegal seizure of power in 2021, Afghan women and girls have been subjected to systematic persecution through more than 150 edicts, depriving them of education beyond sixth grade, employment, justice, freedom of movement, healthcare and public life;

whereas in January 2026 the Taliban authorities adopted a new Criminal Procedure Code for Courts further consolidating their interpretation of Islamic law within the Afghan judicial system;

B. whereas in 2026, the Taliban adopted the Criminal Procedure Code for Courts (the Code), which criminalises criticism of the authorities and grants judges broad discretionary powers;

whereas the Code codifies and institutionalises discrimination and violence against women by reinforcing male guardianship structures, limiting women’s ability to seek legal remedy independently, and providing broader legal justification for violent punishments and restrictions targeting women’s behaviour and public presence;

C. whereas the Code erodes women’s rights by legalising domestic violence, criminalising women seeking protection from abuse, institutionalising corporal punishment amounting to torture, recognising slavery, prescribing the death penalty without fair trial guarantees, granting husbands discretionary authority to punish wives for disobedience, subjecting women who leave Islam to indefinite imprisonment, and institutionalising discrimination based on gender, religion and social status; whereas it provides no right to legal representation or safeguards against forced confessions, and the removal of women judges, prosecutors and lawyers leaves women without remedies, in violation of Afghanistan’s obligations under the ICCPR, the UNCAT and the Slavery Convention;

whereas the situation of women in Afghanistan has catastrophically and rapidly deteriorated even further since the Talibans retook power in August 2021 and introduced the strict enforcement of Sharia law;

D. whereas the Taliban have significantly increased public floggings and corporal punishments, including against at least 170 women in 2025;

whereas in 2025, approximately 100,000 Afghan nationals, predominantly male, have received refugee status in the EU; whereas in 2025, Afghans received the largest number of protection statuses in the EU representing 27% of the total;

E. whereas the Taliban regime has institutionalised gender persecution and gender apartheid; whereas the ICC issued arrest warrants against Akhundzada and Haqqani for the crime against humanity of prosecution on gender grounds;

whereas Afghan nationals are statistically overrepresented in certain categories of crime in Europe, including cases involving violence against women;

1. Strongly condemns the Code; calls on the Taliban regime to immediately repeal it;

Strongly condemns the new Criminal Procedure Code for Courts institutionalizing violence against women and girls; condemns the systemic denial of women’s and girls’ fundamental rights in Afghanistan, including bans on education, employment and freedom of movement, as well as the mandatory wearing of the burqa; condemns the restrictions against women and girls, which prevent them from accessing essential services;

2. Declares that the Taliban regime has institutionalised slavery and gender apartheid; calls on the Council and the Commission to call this out in all diplomatic engagements and to support their recognition as crimes against humanity in the proposed Crimes Against Humanity Treaty;

Recalls that these restrictive measures constitute a strict and direct application of Sharia law, causing a massive regression in women’s rights in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world;

3. Calls for an immediate end to public floggings, corporal punishment and executions, and for all restrictions on women and girls, LGBTQ+ persons, religious minorities and other vulnerable groups in public life to be lifted;

Emphasizes that the continued migration from Afghanistan to Europe will lead to the continued importation of Islamist ideologies and behaviours, further undermining the security of women and social cohesion in Europe; recalls that Afghan asylum seekers are overwhelmingly male and are over-represented in crime rates in several European countries, including in violence against women;

4. Urges the Commission and the Member States to uphold non-recognition and non-normalisation of the Taliban, in line with the Council’s five benchmarks, and to pressure the Taliban to restore human rights, in particular women’s and girls’ rights; reiterates its full support for the ICC arrest warrants and urges the Member States to enforce them;

Urges Member States to halt the illegal migration of primarily young adult males from Afghanistan to the EU; urges an effective return and readmission of illegal immigrants;

5. Urges the EU and its Member States to support the investigative mechanism established by the UN Human Rights Council;

Notes the Commission’s invitation to the de facto Afghan authorities to receive a delegation in Brussels to discuss the return and readmission of illegal immigrants;

6. Calls on the Council to extend EU global human rights sanctions to Taliban leaders responsible for the persecution of women and girls, including travel bans and asset freezes;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the United Nations Secretary-General, and the de facto authorities in Afghanistan.

7. Urges the EU and its Member States to increase humanitarian support for Afghan women human rights defenders, judges, lawyers, journalists, activists and women-led organisations, and ensure aid safely reaches Afghan women and girls;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the VP/HR, the Member States, the UN and the de facto Afghan authorities.