Afghanistan

The situation for LGBTIQ people in Afghanistan remains catastrophic under the Taliban, who have institutionalized the erasure of sexual and gender minorities. Since retaking power in 2021, the regime has transitioned from erratic enforcement to codified persecution. In August 2024, the Taliban formally ratified the Law on the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which grants broad powers to the “morality police” (mohtasibs) to detain and punish individuals for “moral crimes.” The law explicitly criminalizes same-sex intimacy (referred to as lawatat for men and sahaq for women) and empowers enforcers to impose discretionary punishments, including public flogging.

Enforcement of criminalization against queer and trans people has intensified. In December 2025, the Taliban Supreme Court confirmed a surge in corporal punishments, with public floggings reported in provinces like Takhar and Faryab for offenses including “sodomy” and “illicit relationships.” LGBTIQ individuals face extrajudicial killings, torture, and forced marriages, often driven by their own families to avoid Taliban retribution. Previously, in 2015, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented three extrajudicial executions of two men and one boy for alleged same-sex sexual acts in a Taliban-controlled region.

In a historic legal development, the International Criminal Court (ICC) in January 2025 recognized LGBTIQ+ Afghans who faced gender-based crimes and violence as victims of crimes against humanity. ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan requested arrest warrants for senior Taliban leaders, including Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, specifically citing “gender persecution” against those who do not conform to rigid gender roles. This marks the first time an international tribunal has pursued Taliban leadership for gender-based crimes, inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Even before the Taliban’s return, the penal code that became effective in 2018 criminalizes consensual same-sex acts with imprisonment. Articles 646 and 648 punished the act of sodomy with up to two years of imprisonment. Articles 645 (mosaheghe or non-penetrative sexual act between two women) and 649 (tafkhiz or non-penetrative sexual act between two men) applied up to one year of imprisonment. A new Criminal Procedure Code issued in early 2026 is based on a rigid interpretation of Shariah, with penalties including execution for “habitual” same-sex conduct encoded into law. 

Due to the extreme danger, before and following the Taliban takeover, no LGBTIQ organizations operate openly within the country, and support is entirely underground or diaspora-based. Activities by such groups would be considered illegal. Afghanistan consistently ranks extremely low under the LGBTI Global Acceptance Index.