Women

Afghanistan’s mission in Geneva calls for probe into Taliban’s ‘gender giscrimination’

Women activists during an indoor protest. File photo.

The Permanent Mission of Afghanistan in Geneva has called on human rights and civil organizations to submit information, documentation, and firsthand accounts of “the systematic repression of women” by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The mission aims to compile this information for the fourth periodic report to the “Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.”

“This report provides an important opportunity to highlight the lived experiences, voices, and perspectives of women, paving the way for effective redress of the systematic repression of women in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan,” the mission stated.

The Afghan Mission in Geneva has urged human rights defenders, women, civil society organizations, including women’s groups, global NGOs, and other stakeholders to submit their information, documents, and evidence regarding the “systematic repression of women’s rights” under Taliban rule.

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, they have stripped women and girls of their basic rights and forced many working women in both public and private sectors to stay home.

Following their return to power, the Taliban issued multiple decrees banning girls from attending school beyond the sixth grade and closing universities to female students.

The United Nations’ women’s division and the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur for Afghanistan have described the situation of women under the Taliban’s stringent policies as “gender apartheid.”