Advocates welcome Taliban decree barring forced marriages

ISLAMABAD, DEC 3

(REUTERS) - A decree released by the Taliban barring forced marriage was a major step forward, two leading Afghan women said on Friday, but questions remained about whether the hardline Islamist group would extend women’s rights around work and education.

Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Friday released a decree which said women should not be considered “property” and must consent to marriage.

“This is big, this is huge ... if it is done as it is supposed to be, this is the first time they have come up with a decree like this,” said Mahbouba Seraj, the executive director of the Afghan Women’s Skills Development Center speaking from Kabul on a Reuters Next conference panel on Friday.

The international community, who have frozen billions of dollars in funds for Afghanistan, has made women’s and human rights a key element of any future engagement with Afghanistan.