Afghanistan: selling children to survive, Taliban takeover

In Afghanistan, it has become more common for children – particularly girls – to be married. These arranged marriages are meant to help families pay debts, settle rivalries or simply, believe the marriage will protect them from the extreme hardships of the country’s economic and political upheaval. UNICEF reports that children are being sold as young as 20 days old for future marriages.

The spiralling economic crisis in Afghanistan is forcing many to make desperate decisions just to survive – including selling their children into marriages where they can receive a dowry. The dowry is paid by the groom’s family to the bride’s family, which is then used to help them survive crippling poverty.

Women and girls have struggled for decades in Afghanistan, each change in government adding new hardship to them. The last Taliban rule saw women having little to no freedom, barred from work or attending school. The previous republic took power in 2004, which gave women a more visible public life, but their rights still wavered. Under the new Taliban reign, new rules restricting women’s freedoms of dress, education, movement or work continue to stand. Since the takeover in 2021, girls after the sixth grade are not allowed to attend school. The age where girls are most vulnerable to being set up for marriage.

Violence is normalized

According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 87% of Afghan girls and women experience abuse in their lifetime. And whilst a 2009 law sought to eliminate violence against women, it has since been largely ignored, with few victims able to find justice. Domestic violence cases rarely make it to the courts and are often left unsettled. Additional research shows that 30% of Afghans think it is acceptable to beat a woman who leaves the home without telling anyone, and 17% believe it is acceptable to use violence if a woman refuses to fulfil her ‘marital duties’. In Afghanistan, domestic violence is often justified by conservative culture.

Many are concerned that the Taliban appear not to be focused on eradicating child marriages. This is as many Taliban fighters took child brides for themselves. And while most countries set 18 years of age as the minimum age for marriage, child marriage has always existed in the country. However, reports indicate that the deepening humanitarian crisis following the Taliban’s takeover has exacerbated child selling and marriages.

One year since the Taliban took over

Following the Taliban’s takeover in August last year, the international community froze about $9 billion in Afghan assets and halted funding. The consequences of these actions have left the country in a devastating economic crisis, a country left reeling from decades of war and poverty. And while the economic situation worsens, more families are also pushing their children to work. Additionally, more evil forces are in play, as international smugglers and human traffickers prey on desperate families willing to sell their children.

There may be some hope. A Kabul-based campaign is aiming to lower the number of women and children put in difficult situations. Talk for Harmony is a social media campaign with activists, psychologists, and religious scholars offering counselling to victims and perpetrators alike. This is but one campaign employing its best efforts to aid the women, children and vulnerable of Afghanistan.

zahraa@smile904.fm