Taliban declares women “free,” but rights activists see little cause to celebrate

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have issued a “special decree” outlining women’s rights under the regime, but getting an education or a job are not among them.

The decree, attributed to Taliban supreme leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, bans child marriage and states that “no one can force a woman to marry by coercion or pressure.”

Child marriage and forced marriages are common across much of rural Afghanistan and have been for centuries — even under the U.S.-backed government that held sway for 20 years until the Taliban’s takeover in the summer.