Taliban Official Claims Male Doctors Are ‘Mahram’ for Female Patients Amid Restrictions on Women’s Medical Education
Hamdullah Namani, the Taliban’s Minister of Telecommunications, stated in a meeting with doctors in Kabul that male doctors are considered ‘mahram’ (permissible guardians) for female patients and are allowed to examine parts of their bodies that are normally off-limits to non-mahram individuals. These remarks come as the Taliban administration continues to bar women from medical training and higher education.
Namani said during the meeting: “I am a minister, yet in this city, I am not allowed to see a woman’s face. But for you doctors, this authority has been granted so that when a woman is on your operating table, all her features are before you, and you even have permission to remove her clothing to this extent.”
This stance is expressed amid the Taliban’s educational restrictions that have severely reduced women’s access to health studies and raised concerns about the future of healthcare services. International organizations have warned that continuing these policies could push Afghanistan’s health system into a new crisis.
Afghanistan has previously faced a shortage of female doctors and female health workers, especially in remote areas. Given cultural barriers in some regions, the lack of female medical staff can further limit female patients’ access to healthcare services—a matter that calls for serious reassessment of the Taliban’s educational and health policies.
