The second anniversary of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is fast approaching. Since then, Afghan women have been denied the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid.
Labelling it as such and making clear that the situation in Afghanistan is a crime against humanity allows the international community the chance to legally fight the systematic discrimination against the country’s women and girls.
Erasing women from the public sphere is central to Taliban ideology. Women’s rights institutions in Afghanistan, notably the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, have been dismantled while the dreaded Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has been resurrected.
The Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission has been dissolved and the country’s 2004 constitution repealed, while legislation guaranteeing gender equality has been invalidated.
Today, Afghan women are denied a post-secondary education, they cannot leave the house without a male chaperone, they cannot work, except in health care and some private businesses and they are barred from parks, gyms and beauty salons.
Women Targeted
Of the approximately 80 edicts issued by the Taliban, 54 specifically target women, severely restricting their rights and violating Afghanistan’s international obligations and its previous constitutional and domestic laws.
The Taliban appear undeterred, continuing where they left off 20 years ago when they first held power. The results of their ambitions are nearly apocalyptic.
A general view of a closed beauty salon in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2023. The Taliban has closed all beauty salons in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Khan)
Afghanistan is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. About 19 million people are suffering from acute food insecurity, while more than 90% of Afghans are experiencing some form of food insecurity, with female-headed households and children most impacted.
Gender-based violence has increased exponentially with corresponding impunity for the perpetrators and lack of support for the victims, while ethnic, religious and sexual minorities are suffering intense persecution.
This grim reality underscores the urgent need to address how civil, political, socioeconomic and gender-based harms are interconnected.
International Crime
Karima Bennoune, an Algerian-American international law
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