The Taliban government’s new decree on marriage separation “reinforces systemic discrimination” and erodes the rights of Afghan women and girls, the United Nations said yesterday.

Published in mid-May, the 31-article code sets out various grounds for separation in Afghanistan, including a husband’s prolonged disappearance, “incompatibility” between couples, renunciation of Islam and “failure on the part of the husband”.

The decree, which appeared in the country’s Official Gazette, also states that marriage contracts drawn by relatives “on behalf of a minor boy or girl” can be annulled, which suggests child marriage is permitted in Afghanistan, according to the UN.

In most cases, procedures for women seeking a separation are more complicated than those for men.