At the opening of the UN Human Rights Council’s 59th Session in Geneva, Afghan women took center stage, urging the international community to formally recognize Taliban rule as gender apartheid and take concrete steps toward justice.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, women and girls in Afghanistan have faced what many legal experts now call the most extreme and systematic gender-based oppression in the world. Now, a growing coalition of countries, legal scholars, and Afghan women themselves are pushing the world to name it for what it is—and act towards holding the Taliban accountable for their crimes.
Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, laid out a stark assessment: “The Taliban have institutionalized large-scale and systematic gender-based discrimination and violence… amounting to gender persecution and possibly other crimes against humanity.” In his remarks, Bennett called for the international community to “leave no stone unturned” in pursuing accountability—including supporting a new UN investigative mechanism and working toward formal recognition of gender apartheid as a crime under international law.
But it was the words of Afghan women that struck the most powerful chords on the global stage.
Zahra*, a former teacher and survivor of child marriage, recounted the loss of her freedom and identity under Taliban rule—first in 2000, and now again in the present. “I lost my job. My daughter lost her school. Our home became a cage,” she said. Zahra described being publicly beaten by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue as her children watched in terror. “That day, it was not only the women who were punished. Our whole society’s dignity was crushed.”
Fatima Amiri, an education activist and survivor of a bombing at the Kaaj Educational Center in Kabul, spoke of resilience in the face of repression. “My mother wasn’t allowed to study under the Taliban in the ‘90s. Now I’m banned too,” she said. Having lost an eye and part of her hearing in the attack, Amiri described how she continues to learn in secret. “Don’t recognize the Taliban,” she urged. “If the UN cannot change their policies, at least don’t join them.”
The testimonies underscored how the Taliban’s crackdown extends beyond education. Women are barred from most employment, restricted from traveling alone, and denied access to justice. The Taliban’s Ministry of Justice has reversed divorce rulings, forcing women back into abusive marriages, and women no longer have access to licensed female lawyers, judges, or prosecutors. Courts routinely reject women’s legal complaints unless brought by a male relative.
Maryam Mitra, a poet and women’s rights activist, called on member states to match condemnation with action. “Afghan women are resisting at extraordinary personal risk. But resistance alone cannot dismantle a system built on erasure.” She demanded the creation of humanitarian corridors, urgent support for grassroots women-led organizations, and the inclusion of Afghan women in all diplomatic talks moving forward.
The Council meeting marked a turning point in global dialogue. Countries including France, Canada, Luxembourg, and Australia echoed Bennett’s framing and voiced support for accountability efforts—including referral of Taliban leadership to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and strengthening evidence-gathering initiatives.
UN Women and UNICEF also called for immediate action. Over 2.2 million Afghan girls are currently barred from school. UN Women warned that the justice system is being weaponized to entrench oppression, while UNICEF emphasized that the longer girls are kept out of education, the more permanent the damage to Afghan society will be.
“The Taliban are not simply restricting rights,” said Bennett. “They are engineering a system where women and girls cease to exist as public beings.”
Still, with much of the world focused on geopolitical bargaining and regional stability, Afghan women fear that their pleas could be ignored again. As Zahra concluded in her address: “We are not asking for privilege, only rights. If the world stays silent, the circle of fear and false choices will continue.”
The meeting left no doubt that Afghan women are watching—and waiting. Whether the world will answer their call remains to be seen.
