Women | Afghan women are being sent home untreated as Taliban forces stop male doctors and dentists from examining them, Zan Times reports, citing patients and doctors

ACW | November 12, 2026 — The Taliban have barred male doctors from examining or treating women in most Afghan provinces without any public decree, Zan Times reported on Thursday, citing interviews with patients and doctors.

The report, published in partnership with the Guardian, said dentists described Taliban security forces raiding clinics and warning that male practitioners would be jailed if women were found inside.

In most provinces, male doctors have been told not to examine women, Zan Times said. Exceptions are reportedly made only when a male guardian, or mahram, is present, or when female nurses carry out certain procedures.

"We are not allowed to directly examine female patients because we are not their mahram," a surgeon with 15 years at a public hospital told the outlet. Zan Times changed his name for his safety.

A dental clinic in Herat cancelled a woman's treatment in early July, telling her that "an order has come from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice," according to the report. The clinic did not show her the order.

No public order has been issued, Zan Times said. In February, the Taliban's communications minister, Hamdullah Nomani, said at a gathering in Kabul that doctors count as a mahram when treating women. Patients' accounts contradict that, the outlet said.

No response from the Taliban authorities appeared in the published reports.

Background: Afghanistan International reported in September 2025, citing local sources, that vice-and-virtue officers in three districts of Kandahar city had told male dentists not to treat women. The Taliban have barred women from medical training institutes since December 2024, Zan Times said. ACW earlier reported that a pro-Taliban cleric disputed the ban on women's medical studies.

Why it matters: Women are being told to "go home," and one patient's dental treatment remained unfinished three months later, Zan Times reported. The remaining female doctors must also work with a mahram, according to the outlet.

ACW will continue to follow this story.

Sources: Zan Times — Afghan women told to 'go home' after de facto ban on male doctors treating them; Amu TV — Hamdullah Nomani's remarks (background); Afghanistan International — Kandahar dentists (background)

Photo: Zan Times / Yasin Arsh (file photo)