The ongoing women’s rights crisis in Afghanistan highlights a serious failure in international legal protections for women and girls. Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghan women have faced widespread and systematic violations of their most basic rights.
These abuses have created conditions of extreme gender-based oppression, prompting calls for the international community to recognize “gender apartheid” as a distinct crime against humanity.
Image: 8am.media
Following the Taliban’s takeover, education for girls beyond sixth grade was banned, and women were barred from many forms of employment.
Strict dress codes were enforced through intimidation and arrests, and women could not travel without a male guardian.
Activities such as visiting parks, salons, or gyms were outlawed.
The Taliban’s decrees became increasingly extreme, silencing women’s voices in public, banning singing, and even ordering the covering of windows so women could not see outside.
Despite these atrocities, the global response has been muted. As international attention shifted to other crises, Afghan women’s suffering was largely forgotten.
Meanwhile, the Taliban achieved increasing diplomatic legitimacy, with countries like Russia, China, and Pakistan engaging directly with them.
The United Nations also faltered in its response; its Doha peace process excluded Afghan women entirely, violating its own commitments under Security Council Resolution 1325 on women’s participation in peace processes.
The Taliban’s confidence grew after these exclusions, leading to harsher decrees and the banning of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan.
The concept of “gender apartheid” draws from the legal framework developed to address racial apartheid in South Africa. Under international law, apartheid is defined as a crime against humanity involving an institutionalized system of domination and oppression by one group over another. Afghan women’s rights defenders argue that the Taliban’s regime meets these criteria, differing only in that its basis is gender rather than race.
Current international law criminalizes persecution but does not fully capture the systematic, state-imposed segregation and control of women. Recognizing gender apartheid as a specific crime would acknowledge the scale and intent behind such gender-based oppression.
References:
- The International Obligation to Counter Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan: columbia.edu
- Gender Apartheid as an International Crime: Taliban Oppression in Afghanistan Triggers Campaign: gjia.georgetown.edu
- In the shadow of gender apartheid: Four years of loss and resistance by women in Afghanistan: www.atlanticcouncil.org
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