Sky News report shows Afghan women and girls hit hard under Taliban rule
A Sky News special from Kabul documents the humanitarian cost of Taliban restrictions, including child deaths and severe healthcare shortages.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A special report from Kabul by Sky News has laid bare the worsening conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, nearly five years after restrictions first curtailed their rights and movements.
The report highlights that girls over the age of 12 have been blocked from attending school, while women are banned from most jobs and public spaces. Only men are allowed to play sports and visit public parks, the report notes. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they promised a more moderate approach than in the 1990s, but the broadcaster's correspondent said that promise now looks hollow.
Much of the reporting was filmed inside Afghanistan's largest paediatric hospital, where doctors are struggling to treat critically ill children against a backdrop of severe shortages. The report describes a constant battle to keep young patients alive, with some families losing multiple children to hunger and disease. In some cases, half a dozen babies die in a single day.
One child, three-year-old Safa, arrived with an infection and high fever. Her mother was distraught as doctors, short of medicines, tried to control her convulsions. Another patient, ten-month-old Suma, died shortly after filming ended; she had spent her entire short life fighting for survival.
The report underlines how swings in international aid and the Taliban's pariah status have hit the most vulnerable hardest. Medical staff say 40 to 50 percent of the diseases they see are preventable. Healthcare remains one of the few sectors where Afghan women can still work, and the report shows women on the front line trying to save the lives of young girls who, even if they survive, face a future with severely restricted freedoms.
The coverage is a stark reminder that the Taliban's return to power has reversed many basic rights, and that the consequences are being measured in avoidable child deaths and a collapsing health system.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Sky News |
|---|---|
| Girls over the age of 12 have been barred from school for nearly five years. | |
| High numbers of babies are dying in hospitals, sometimes half a dozen per day. | |
| Women are prohibited from most jobs and public spaces. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused on the humanitarian emergency, using emotional footage from a children's hospital to illustrate the real-world impact of Taliban policies and aid cuts. The tone was grim and urgent, contrasting the Taliban's 2021 promises with the current reality of restricted rights and dying children. It highlighted that women still work in healthcare, but framed this as one small pocket of permitted employment amid a broader ban.
- “When the Taliban came back to power in August 2021, they assured the Afghan people and the international community that they had changed. That they wouldn't rule Afghanistan like they did in the 1990s. But that seems to have been a lie.”
- “Death stalks the young in Afghanistan. And it's a constant battle to keep them alive.”
- “Most of the diseases, 40 to 50% of the diseases are preventable.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.