Afghan women are now rarely leaving their homes, according to the United Nations' women's organization.
Some five years since the Islamist Taliban took control of Afghanistan, UN Women said 52% of the women surveyed had left their homes no more than twice a month.
In contrast, 96% of the men surveyed left their homes every day, the organization wrote in a recent publication.
UN Women said over 2,000 people were surveyed across Afghanistan in two rounds as a representative sample. The results differ between rural and urban regions.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, they have drastically curtailed the rights of girls and women in the country. For example, women are not permitted to attend secondary schools or universities. They are also being excluded from parts of the labour market.
Almost two-thirds (65%) of the women surveyed for UN Women stated that their lives had taken a worse turn than they had previously expected following the Taliban takeover. In the survey, they cited, in particular, the massive cuts in access to education for themselves and their children as reasons for their deteriorating prospects.
Seven out of 10 women said their mental health had deteriorated over the past year. In additional interviews conducted by UN Women, women also attributed their mental health problems to the restrictions.
In addition to the restrictions on women, Afghanistan is currently experiencing a massive humanitarian crisis. The World Food Programme says 47% of minors were undernourished in the first quarter of this year.
Underfunded international aid programmes, poor harvests due to droughts and nearly 5.9 million returnees since September 2023 are exacerbating the situation.