In response to calls for the recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan, several women’s rights activists state that gender apartheid in the country means “discrimination against women, without legal consequences for its perpetrators,” urging the international community to end its silence regarding the actions of the current government as soon as possible.
In a video shared by the global campaign “Fight Against Gender Apartheid” on the social media platform X, these activists described the actions of the current Afghan government and the Islamic Republic of Iran against women as “crimes against humanity.”
They emphasized: “Gender apartheid means stripping women of their independent identity throughout their lives, viewing women as half-men, and legally permitting child marriage.”
These women’s rights activists are calling on countries around the world to quickly criminalize gender apartheid as a “crime against humanity” to ensure the rights of women in Afghanistan and Iran.
At the same time, several human rights defenders at a meeting organized by the Middle East Institute to “codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity in Afghanistan” stressed that gender apartheid in this country is “not just a legal issue, but a deep moral and social problem.”
This comes as the interim government has imposed more than 50 restrictive orders on women and girls since coming back to power in Afghanistan. For nearly three years, women under the current government have been deprived of all their basic rights, including the right to education, work, travel, recreation, and political participation.
United Nations human rights experts have referred to the violation of women’s and girls’ fundamental rights as an example of “gender apartheid” and have called on judicial authorities in various countries to recognize this phenomenon.
Meanwhile, Afghan and Iranian women have launched a campaign by the “Alliance Against Gender Apartheid,” releasing various statements to amplify the voices of women from these two countries fighting against the system of “gender apartheid.” Recently, many women’s rights activists from different countries, including Western nations such as Germany and Ukrainian feminists, also expressed their solidarity with women in Iran and Afghanistan through messages.
