Leading human rights advocates have called for the international community to officially declare the Taliban’s treatment of women as gender apartheid in a meeting at the United Nations headquarters on Tuesday.
Several prominent Afghan civil and women’s rights activists were among the cohort, including Yalda Royan, Fawzia Koofi, Fatima Gailani, Asila Wardak, and Najla Ayubi.
The women criticized the international community’s push to engage with the Taliban and impressed upon its leaders the dire situation girls and women face in Afghanistan.
Human rights activist Yalda Royan told the meeting that since August 2021, the Taliban’s numerous restrictive orders against women and girls are causing severe discrimination against them.
Ms Royan said that the treatment of women in Afghanistan can only be cast as gender apartheid with the government and social systems systematically segregating women to the point of excluding them from public spaces.
She said that more than 91 percent of women have reported experiencing gender discrimination, particularly in employment, education, and mobility showing the prevalence of this form of apartheid.
Ms Royan said social and domestic violence against women was also climbing with 71% of women reporting they’ve experienced gender-based violence.
She said the lack of access to justice for women in Taliban courts, along with psychological pressures faced by Afghan women were also signs of this violence.
Despite the significant humanitarian aid flowing into Afghanistan, Ms Royan pointed out the lack of assistance reaching women and girls.
She highlighted the multiple pressures faced by Afghan women on a daily basis, including pervasive economic challenges, alongside pervasive social and domestic violence.
Ms Royan questioned whether gender apartheid was even an adequate term to describe such discrimination and gender-based conduct, urging the United Nations to respond to this crime.
She called for international states to not grant recognition to the Taliban as a legitimate government and backed efforts to bring the group to trial in the International Criminal Court.
Former Afghan MP Fawzia Koofi addressed the meeting echoing Ms Rohan’s criticisms of the global community’s engagement with the Taliban.
She said support for the group, shown by the significant financial support and extensive diplomatic engagements, was one-sided and ineffective.
Ms Koofi emphasized the importance of listening to the demands of the Afghan people and advocated for comprehensive governance reform based on their will.
Former Afghan MP and former president of Afghan Red Crescent Fatima Gailani emphasized the necessity of engaging with the Taliban as a solution to the Afghan crisis, but not granting diplomatic recognition.
Former diplomat Asila Wardak and former judge Najla Ayubi also addressed the meeting, outlining the plight of Afghan women and their disappearing human rights.
