KABUL, Afghanistan: Afghan women who were detained by the Taliban regime have recounted beatings, sexual abuse, threats and psychological torture in prison, according to testimonies published by Afghanistan’s Hasht-e Subh Daily.
The Afghan women told the newspaper that female detainees faced physical violence, insults, intimidation and intense psychological pressure during arrest and imprisonment. Some also alleged sexual abuse by Taliban regime members, according to a report published by Hasht-e Subh Daily.
Human rights activists said women released from Taliban regime prisons continued to suffer from psychological trauma years after their detention.
طالبان تامانیدن قماققه آلینگن تجربهگه اېگه بۉلگن بیر قطار عیاللر اوشبو گروه حبسگه آلیش و قماقده سقلش دوریده اولرنی قتّیق جسمانی، جنسی و روحی قییناقلرگه دچار قیلیشینی اَیتماقده. اولرنینگ اَیتیشیچه، حبسگه آلینگن عیاللر کلتکلش، تهدید، حقارت و کوچلی روحی باسیمگه دوچ… pic.twitter.com/vbfXKmlkNN
— Hasht e Subh Daily (@HashteSubhDaily) September 1, 2026
Afghan woman recounts abuse
One woman, cited by Hasht-e Subh Daily, said Taliban regime members detained her after she left her home and took her to a prison with a black bag over her head.
She said another young woman was being held in the same room and appeared to have been badly beaten. The woman said she could hear women screaming and moaning in the prison corridors.
According to her account, several Taliban regime members entered the room, slapped her and called her an “apostate”. She said they kicked her in the chest, pulled her hair and severely beat her, according to Hasht-e Subh Daily.
The woman said the other woman was later taken from the room despite her protests. She said the woman returned about half an hour later, severely injured and unable to move.
She alleged that the woman had been raped and was taken away again several hours later. When she was returned, the Afghan woman said, the woman was too weak to scream, Hasht-e Subh Daily reported.
She said she heard what sounded like the woman’s final breaths before Taliban regime members removed her from the room. The woman said she never saw the woman again and did not know what happened to her.
The woman also alleged that she was subjected to further abuse during her detention. “They did everything except have intercourse with me,” she said, according to Hasht-e Subh Daily.
Four years after her detention, she said she continued to suffer from the psychological effects of what she experienced.
“When I sleep, the sound of the girls’ screams wakes me,” she said. “I have been turned into a lifeless soul.”
Physical and psychological torture
Julia Parsi, another woman who said she was arrested and imprisoned by the Taliban regime, told Hasht-e Subh Daily that female detainees faced beatings, threats, insults and severe psychological pressure.
Parsi alleged that detainees were held in damp rooms, suspended from ceilings by their wrists, blindfolded with black bags and subjected to water torture.
She said punching and kicking were routine during interrogations, but described psychological pressure as the most damaging form of torture.
According to Parsi, Taliban members threatened detainees’ relatives and told women that their families could be harmed and their daughters taken for fighters if they refused to comply with demands.
She said the purpose was not only to punish women but also to frighten and silence them.
Parsi also alleged that women who were not permitted to leave their homes without a male guardian were subjected to beatings, torture and humiliation when arrested.
“This isn’t about religion or preserving women’s dignity; it’s about control, suppression, and breaking the women of Afghanistan,” she said.
Despite the alleged abuses, Parsi said Afghan women continued to resist.
Activist alleges sexual abuse
Benafsha Yaqoubi, a human rights activist who said she had met and spoken with several women who experienced Taliban regime detention, told Hasht-e Subh Daily that women faced severe psychological, physical and sexual abuse.
She alleged that Taliban members beat women during interrogations and subjected them to degrading treatment.
Yaqoubi also alleged that some women were stripped and whipped on their bodies and that detainees were told rape was a right of their captors.
She said many women released from Taliban prisons years ago continued to experience nightmares, depression and other psychological problems.
“Women who were released even four or five years ago still have nightmares, lack mental peace, and live with depression and poor psychological health,” she said.
