Wife beating now legal

Wife beating now legal

Tania Kurd Mirza,LL.M.

A new 90-page criminal code has fundamentally reshaped the legal landscape for women in Afghanistan as 2026 brings sweeping changes to domestic regulations.

On January 7, 2026, the Taliban’s leadership enacted a comprehensive new criminal code that officially replaces previous legal protections for families and women. Under the provisions of Article 32, the code sets specific limits on the investigation of domestic discipline, stating that legal intervention is generally restricted unless there are visible marks such as broken bones or open wounds. This regulation also establishes that in cases where "excessive force" is found, the maximum penalty for a husband is 15 days in prison, though the process for a victim to seek a judgment remains highly complex. International organizations, including the United Nations, have expressed deep concern over the removal of the 2009 Law on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, noting that these new statutes effectively prioritize domestic authority over individual legal agency. The legislation marks a significant shift toward the state's formal non-intervention in private household matters, a move that observers say will have a profound impact on millions.

-A husband may strike his wife and children freely, provided the violence does not leave visible bone fractures or open wounds.

-To pursue a complaint, a woman must present her wounds in person to a male judge while remaining fully veiled and accompanied by a male guardian. In the majority of domestic violence cases, that guardian is the husband who committed the beating.

-Woman who goes to her parents’ home without her husband’s permission – even to escape violence – faces up to three months in prison.