Before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, many women and girls were already struggling to receive adequate healthcare.

A May 2021 Human Rights Watch report found that, after two decades of conflict in Afghanistan, there was an “an unmet need” for modern forms of contraception; that prenatal and postnatal care, as well as cancer treatment, pap smears and mammograms, were often unavailable or nonexistent; and that medical facilities often lacked staffing and essential supplies. Epidemics of polio, measles, malaria, dengue, cholera and COVID-19 had further strained the country’s healthcare system.

The situation has worsened under the Taliban. By September of last year, only 17% of Afghanistan’s healthcare facilities supported in part by the World Bank were fully functional, according to the World Health Organization. And as Ramita Navai investigated in the new FRONTLINE documentary Afghanistan Undercover, the regime has cracked down on women’s rights, with accounts of women being arrested and detained for leaving home without a male guardian. Some experts told FRONTLINE the Taliban’s restrictions have also impacted women and girls’ ability to seek medical care.