'A few beatings won't kill you': judge rejects divorce request of woman abused by husband in Afghanistan

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

‘A few beatings won’t kill you’: judge rejects divorce request of woman abused by husband in Afghanistan

Under new Taliban laws, a husband is allowed to beat his wife as long as it is not done with ‘obscene force’, which the woman must prove in court

Zahra Joya, Tom Levitt and Ziba Balkhi from Rukhshana Media
Thu 12 Mar 2026 10.00 GMT
Last modified on Thu 12 Mar 2026 10.03 GMT

The shocking level of physical violence against women permitted under the Taliban’s new laws has been revealed this week by the case of a woman in northern Afghanistan, who said she was beaten with a cable wire by her husband and told by a judge: “You want a divorce just because of that? … A little anger and a few beatings won’t kill you.”

Farzana* said her husband was quick-tempered and often resorted to beating her. He regularly humiliated her and called her “disabled”, she said, because her right leg was slightly shorter than the left. She had tolerated the abuse for the sake of their children, but one evening, she said, his violence went too far.

“One day I was very sick and had no energy to cook dinner. When he came home from work, he said: ‘Now you don’t even do the housework?’ I told him I was sick, but he beat me with a mobile phone charger cable. The marks on my back and arms remained for several days, but I didn’t think of taking photos that might one day help me in court.”

After the attack, she decided to seek an end to the violence by filing for divorce, but when her case reached a Taliban court recently, Farzana said the judge not only rejected her application but belittled her claims of abuse.

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* Name has been changed

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/mar/12/a-few-beatings-wont-kill-you-judge-rejects-divorce-request-of-woman-abused-by-husband-in-afghanistan

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Afghani equivalent of The Rule of Thumb

This has been said to derive from the belief that English law allowed a man to beat his wife with a stick so long as it is was no thicker than his thumb. In 1782 Judge Sir Francis Buller is reported as having made this legal ruling.