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Officials from the Taliban-led administration told the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan that there was no need for such shelters or that they were a Western concept.

The Taliban sends women to prison if they have no male relatives to stay with or if the male relatives are considered unsafe, the report said. Authorities have also asked male relatives for commitments or sworn statements that they will not harm a female relative, inviting local elders to witness the guarantee, it added.

Women are sent to prison for their protection “akin to how prisons have been used to accommodate drug addicts and homeless people in Kabul,” the report said.

The Associated Press contacted Taliban-led ministries about where survivors of gender-based violence can seek help, what protection measures are in place, and the conviction rates for offenders, but nobody was available for comment.

Women and girls have been to their homes since the Taliban takeover in 2021. They are beyond sixth grade, including university, , and most jobs. They are required to take a male chaperone with them on journeys of more than 72 km (45 miles) and .

A Taliban decree in July ordered , one of the few remaining places that women could go to outside the home or family environment.

But Afghanistan has, for years, ranked among the to be born female.

Millions of girls were out of school before the Taliban takeover for cultural and other reasons. Child marriage, were widespread.

Rights groups warned that Taliban rule would against women and girls and decimate any legal protections for them.

Women are no longer working in the judiciary or law enforcement, not allowed to deal with crimes of gender-based violence, and only permitted to attend work when called upon by their male supervisors, according to the U.N. report.