Key Points

In the economically-poverished region of Ghor, Afghanistan, amidst rising levels of food scarcity, people are forced to do the unthinkable to make ends meet — selling their daughters. As thousands of families find themselves unable to afford medical expenses and debt settlement, they are selling their daughters into domestic slavery and child marriage.

As per a report by the United Nations, three in every four people in Afghanistan find themselves unable to fulfill even the barest necessities of their lives due to rising levels of poverty and unemployment in the country. Shrinking international aid and a struggling healthcare system add to their woes. It is estimated that around 4.7 million people, a staggering 10% of the population, are just a few steps shy of descending into famine.

A BBC report, highlighting the worsening situation in Afghanistan’s Ghor province, reveals that Afghan fathers are selling their young daughters into child marriage and domestic slavery as a source of income. 

Abdul Rashid Azimi, a resident of the province, is the father of seven-year-old twin daughters Roqia and Rohila. Abdul's solution to debt and unemployment is doing the unimaginable with his young daughters. As his inability to feed his family becomes more obvious, he is considering selling one of his daughters.

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"I'm willing to sell my daughters. I'm poor, in debt and helpless, says Azimi as he breaks down in tears. "I come home from work with parched lips, hungry, thirsty, distressed and confused. My children come to me saying 'Baba, give us some bread'. But what can I give? Where is the work?" he added.

Even though it “breaks his heart” to ever consider doing that, Azimi, speaking to reporters, says that poverty and unemployment has left him no other choice.

Saheed Ahmed, another father plagued with the same woe, sold his five-year-old daughter Shaiqa. The child had developed appendicitis and a cyst in her liver, and Saheed, being unable to bear the expenses for the medical aid, sold Shaiqa to a relative for 2,00,000 Afghani ($3,200).

Initially, Saheed accepted a portion of the total deal money to pay for his daughter's surgery. The rest of the payment would be received over the next five years, after which Shaqia would have to marry one of the relative’s sons. 

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"I had no money to pay the medical expenses. So I sold my daughter to a relative," said Saheed in a statement to BBC. "If I had taken the whole sum at that time, he would have taken her away. So I told him just give me enough for her treatment now, and in the next five years you can give me the rest after which you can take her. She will become his daughter-in-law," he added.

"Giving away your child at such a young age carries a lot of anxiety. Underage [marriages] have their problems; however, because I couldn't pay for her treatment, I was thinking, at least she will be alive," Saheed said. 

The economic conditions in Afghanistan have worsened over the last year, as the United States cut off the country's financial assistance in February and April 2025. Shrinking international aid— which provided assistance like flour, cooking oil, lentils, and nutritional supplements of children to millions of families like Saheed’s and Abdul’s— have left left many without basic necessities.

Why do Afghan fathers sell their daughters?

In Afghanistan, sons are seen as the breadwinners and daughters are becoming more frequently sold than boys, as they are seen as less useful. This preference has been reinforced even more so since the Taliban took over, and women and girls' education and employment opportunities have been tremendously limited.

One of the reasons for this is the tradition of “Bride Price”, where the husband's family gives money or gifts to the wife's family. For poor families facing hunger, poverty or a medical crisis, daughters are the instant source of cash.

Underage marriage is common and has reportedly increased since the Taliban have prevented girls from attending secondary and higher schools. Experts say that girls are typically the ones being sold into marriage, as the restrictions by the Taliban have had a profound effect on gender inequality. Such policies have also been followed by the stoppage of international aid, which has made the humanitarian and economic crisis in the country worse.

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