AJA Microsite | Visual Research

Afghanistan Justice Archive

Mapping the Construction of Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan.

A series of interactive visualizations that translate complex decree data into accessible, evidence-led narratives, revealing the cumulative and systematic erosion of Afghan women’s rights since August 2021.

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About this microsite

Gender apartheid in Afghanistan did not emerge through a single decree. It has been constructed through the accumulation of restrictions introduced over time, each narrowing the space available to women and girls to learn, work, move, participate, and belong.

Drawing on data documented by the Afghanistan Justice Archive, these visualizations help reveal how individual measures combined into a broader system of exclusion.

Developed through a collaboration between the Afghanistan Justice Archive (AJA), End Gender Apartheid, and the Global Rights Innovation Lab Clinic (GRIL) at Berkeley Law, they form part of an ongoing effort to make evidence of gender apartheid more visible and accessible through visual storytelling.

Visuals

Current visual projects

Two entry points into broader visual investigations connected to the archive.

2021–2025 Work & livelihood

How Women Were Restricted from Working

A standalone timeline and sector-based visual showing how decrees and restrictions accumulated across workplaces over time.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghan women have faced an expanding series of restrictions on their ability to work across public and economic life. Introduced through decrees, directives, and policies over time, these measures have progressively curtailed women’s participation in government, education, healthcare, media, civil society, and private business.

This interactive timeline traces the accumulation of these restrictions from 2021 to 2025. As additional decrees are introduced, the available space within each sector contracts, illustrating how a system of gender-based exclusion was progressively constructed across public and professional life.

 

Interactive timeline Open visual →
2021–2025 Education

Institutionalized Segregation in Education

A scroll-led visual tracing education restrictions over time, showing the cumulative dismantling of access for girls and women across Afghanistan.

Since August 2021, the space available to girls and women within Afghanistan’s education system has steadily diminished. This visualisation traces that narrowing space through decrees that restricted access to classrooms, universities, and educational opportunities.

As you move through the timeline, the visible field gradually contracts. This is not a technical effect but a reflection of the shrinking educational space available to Afghan girls and women. It invites users to witness how individual measures accumulated over time, transforming education from a pathway of opportunity into one marked by exclusion.

 

Interactive scroll Open visual →