An absorbent article having a pair of longitudinal edges, front and rear transverse edges, a front end region, a rear end region, and a central region disposed between the front and rear end regions. The ratio of the width of the rear end region to the width of the front end region ranges between 1:1 and 2.5:1. The absorbent article has a topsheet, backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet. The absorbent core has a pair of longitudinal edges and a pair of rear side flaps each extending laterally from the corresponding longitudinal edge of the absorbent core in the rear end region and a continuous support layer disposed on the backsheet in the rear end region. The continuous support layer includes a continuous material having a shear rigidity value of at least 3.0 gf/cm·degree in the longitudinal direction.
