- Miss Universe 2025 Fatima Bosch highlighted Afghan women's plight, calling for education and freedom
- Afghan women are banned from parks, gyms, education, work, and must have male guardians to access health care
- Girls and women face forced marriages, are barred from secondary and higher education since 2022
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and since then, women have been stripped of basic freedoms in their own land. They are banned from entering parks, salons, and other public spaces. There are no safe spaces for survivors of sexual abuse, child marriage is legal, and consent is largely disregarded. Girls and women are barred from secondary school and higher education.
Amid this, Miss Universe 2025 winner Fatima Bosch recently took to Instagram to draw parallels between her life and the lives of women in Afghanistan, raising her voice against the atrocities they face every day. The caption on the post read, "Every girl deserves education, freedom, and the chance to choose future."
Miss Universe 2025 Raises Voice For Afghan Women
Fatima Bosch shared a carousel of images, each frame divided horizontally into two parts. The first featured her thriving alongside images of girls in schools in other countries, while the second half showed Afghan girls and women on the streets, sewing, or waiting for food while wearing a blue burqa, a mandate that reportedly applies to many girls as young as 12 or 13.
The text in the post read, "Meanwhile, on the other side of the world... there is a woman just like me, with the same abilities, the same dreams, the same work ethic, she may even be a better person than I am. The only difference is that she's in a refugee camp and has no voice."
Ban On Women In Afghanistan
The list of restrictions imposed on women in Afghanistan is a never-ending one. The first edict came in August 2021 when young girls were reportedly forcibly married off to Taliban soldiers and made to stay at home. The Ministry of Women's Affairs was replaced by institutions tasked with enforcing these restrictions. Soon, women were banned from working, obtaining a driving licence, travelling alone in public, and accessing gyms, parks, and salons.
In March 2022, women were banned from visiting health centres without a mahram (a male guardian or close male relative). In fact, female health professionals were asked to bring a mahram with them to work.
Women can no longer appear on television, not even in movies or shows. Even journalists were told to cover their faces on television. In September 2022, secondary education was completely closed to girls. By December 2022, a decree was passed barring women from accessing higher education or working for NGOs.
According to a United Nations report published in August 2025, more than 78% of Afghan women are not in education, employment, or training. They are living shorter and less healthy lives.
"In total, since 2021, almost 100 edicts restricting the movement, participation, and rights of women and girls have been instituted and enforced," the report stated. In all these years, not one of these restrictions has been overturned.
As Afghan women suffer, the world continues to turn a blind eye, as if their lives do not matter.
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