LONDON — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said on Saturday that Afghan women are paying the price for demanding their most basic rights, describing the Taliban’s policies as a form of “gender apartheid.”
Speaking at a panel titled “Afghan Media vs. the Taliban” organized by Rukhshana Media in London to mark World Press Freedom Day, Yousafzai warned that the repression of women and girls in Afghanistan must be recognized globally and addressed with urgency.
“What is happening in Afghanistan is not just gender discrimination — it is gender apartheid,” Yousafzai said. “More than 100 decrees have been issued by the Taliban, most of them targeting women. This is an extreme form of systemic oppression.”
Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist and the youngest Nobel laureate, said Afghan women have been silenced, yet many continue to resist through journalism, education initiatives, and quiet acts of defiance. She highlighted the courage of Afghan women journalists who, despite threats and censorship, continue to report on the realities faced by women under Taliban rule.
“Women are being punished simply for asking for their rights,” she said. “They are denied education, banned from working, and cut off from public life — and when they resist, they are threatened and punished.”
Yousafzai called on international human rights organizations, legal scholars, and governments to formally recognize the Taliban’s treatment of women as a form of gender apartheid — a term that would carry weight under international law and mobilize greater accountability.
“Terms like ‘gender discrimination’ or ‘gender-based violence’ are not sufficient to describe the scale of this injustice,” she said. “This must be treated as a global issue — one that demands legal, political, and moral response.”
She also urged global support for Afghan women journalists, saying they play a vital role in amplifying the voices of women and documenting abuses. “They are not just telling stories — they are preserving truth under a regime that seeks to erase it,” she said.
Through the Malala Fund, Yousafzai said she has helped provide alternative learning opportunities for girls in Afghanistan and will continue to support women’s education and activism. “I stand with the women of Afghanistan — with their courage, their resistance, and their demand to be seen and heard.”
