Three years ago today, the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and began a systematic campaign of repression and dehumanization against women to entrench its power.
This treatment of women has a name: GENDER APARTHEID.
#EndGenderApartheid
On Friday, “morality police” agents in Iran violently assaulted and attempted to arrest a teenage girl at a park for wearing a T-shirt.
🚨 It’s time to call legally enshrined systems of repression & dehumanization against women what it is: GENDER APARTHEID
#EndGenderApartheid
“If women in Iran & Afghanistan are not free, you're not going to be free here.”
In an interview w/ NBC,
@AlinejadMasih
called on women globally to join Afghan & Iranian women in their fight against gender apartheid.
She is a key signatory to
@EGACampaign
.
#EndGenderApartheid
همکاران
@EGACampaign
به آفریقای جنوبی سفر کردند تا با قانونگذاران، کارشناسان، جامعه مدنی و طیف های مختلف جامعه درباره زنان و دختران که تحت سلطه رژیم آپارتاید جنسیتی طالبان زندگی می کنند گفتگو کنند و حمایت آنها را برای جرمانگاری آپارتاید جنسیتی در قوانین بینالمللی جذب نمایند.
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans girls from school beyond 6th grade.
The Taliban's legally enshrined systems of repression against women & girls is gender apartheid.
States must criminalize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
#EndGenderApartheid
🗣️“The Taliban has stripped women and girls of every human right.”
@Metra_Mehran
testified before the U.S. Congress on the state of women’s rights in Afghanistan and the urgent need to criminalize gender apartheid under international law.
#EndGenderApartheid
“The world has forgotten me and all Afghan girls like me.”
This is the story of a 14-year-old Afghan girl named Sadia, as shared by Metra Mehra, an Afghan women’s rights activist and a member of the End Gender Apartheid campaign.
@Metra_Mehran
#EndGenderApartheid
Stand by the women & girls of Afghanistan & Iran and demand that we expand the legal definition of apartheid under international laws.
Sign our open letter now:
#EndGenderApartheid
"What's happening in Iran and Afghanistan is the systematic segregation and discrimination that is not an individual act, but it's a part of the governing system in those countries."
@Metra_Mehran
#EndGenderApartheid
#آپارتاید_جنسیتی
“The international response to this crisis [in Afghanistan] has been shockingly bad. We have seen a lack of coordinated action from governments, and little action beyond statements of concern.”
—
@heatherbarr1
, Associate Women’s Rights Director at
@hrw
We are thrilled that
@Amnesty
issued a statement today calling for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime under international law.
The statement cites
@EGACampaign
’s global campaign to codify gender apartheid
Read more:
#EndGenderApartheid
Professor Karima Bennoune urged the UN Security Council to codify gender apartheid under international law during today’s UN Security Council briefing on
#Afghanistan
.
#EndGenderApartheid
@NazaninBoniadi
discussed the importance of recognizing gender apartheid as a crime against humanity under international law during her Sydney Peace Prize acceptance speech last November.
Ms. Boniadi is among the key signatories of the
#EndGenderApartheid
campaign.
The UN published Member States' written comments on a potential crimes against humanity treaty. 6 states specifically mentioned the potential inclusion of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity and 16 raised other gendered considerations.
#EndGenderApartheid
In a statement to the UN Human Rights Council,
@HRW
urged States to consider
@SR_Afghanistan
's recommendation to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity & take concrete measures to hold the Taliban accountable.
Read more:
#EndGenderApartheid
In 10 days, we will mark three years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan & established legally enshrined systems of repression and dehumanization against women, best described as
#GenderApartheid
.
One stark example of this is the ban on education for girls and women.
Graça Machel, former First Lady of South Africa, calls for the same level of unwavering commitment that was demonstrated in the fight against apartheid in South Africa to be directed toward addressing the issue of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
#EndGenderApartheid
NEW! You can now add your photo to our campaign template to show your support and call on states to make gender apartheid a crime against humanity.
1. Go to
2. Add your photo.
3. Click save.
4. Post on social media and tag us.
#EndGenderApartheid
Join our Twitter space tomorrow with
@Metra_Mehran
&
@azadahrm
! This discussion will be in Persian.
We will discuss the importance of accountability for international crimes committed in Afghanistan for sustainable & durable peace.
👉
The Taliban supreme leader says that they will continue to enforce strict Sharia law in Afghanistan, including flogging & stoning women in public.
Flogging & stoning are clear violations of international law and should never be done under any circumstances.
#EndGenderApartheid
“At the very heart of this barbaric oppression is the fact that the Taliban have made girlhood illegal.”
@Malala
joined a high-level panel discussion on the issue of gender apartheid in Afghanistan, urging countries to codify the crime of gender apartheid.
#EndGenderApartheid
"The Taliban continue to ignore widespread criticism as they flagrantly flout basic human rights principles in an alarming slide into what looks like a grim reminder of their rule three decades ago.”
#EndGenderApartheid
Our sincerest congratulations to
@karimabennoune
, who received
#ASIL2024
’s prominent women in international law award, in part for her scholarship and work on the recognition of gender apartheid.
#EndGenderApartheid
March is 1 year since a community of Afghan, Iranian, and international activists and jurists launched the End Gender Apartheid campaign
This International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, join discussions on the road ahead for gender apartheid recognition and codification
“Every single basic human rights is legally banned for women in Afghanistan.”
At the 21st Nelson Mandela Lecture,
@Metra_Mehran
spoke about the deteriorating human rights conditions for Afghan girls and women under the Taliban’s gender apartheid regime.
#EndGenderApartheid
Since taking over Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban has issued around 80 decrees that directly target women and girls’ rights, demonstrating the systematic and institutionalized nature of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
#EndGenderApartheid
8️⃣ days until the 3rd anniversary of the Taliban takeover—a dark day for women’s rights in Afghanistan.
Lina, a woman from Badakhshan province, says she fears being forced back to her abusive ex-husband as the Taliban has overturned divorces issued by the previous government.
جنایات طالبان در چشمانداز حقوق بینالملل؛ مکانیزمهای رسیدگی به این جنایات چیست؟
گفتوگو با
@Metra_Mehran
و
@azadahrm
پنجشنبه، ۱۵ آگست، ساعت ۱۱ صبح به وقت واشنگتن دی سی در توییتر اسپیس صفحه
@EGACampaign
“Any time the Taliban or the Islamic Republic is mentioned, their identities are forever bound, forever shackled to the words gender apartheid.”
@SepidehMoafi
, an Iranian-American actress and activist, is a key signatory to the End Gender Apartheid campaign.
#EndGenderApartheid
We commend these States for recognizing the urgent need to include the crime of gender apartheid and to take a gender-competent approach to the treaty.
#EndGenderApartheid
In 9️⃣ days, we mark three years since the Taliban took over Afghanistan & began issuing dozens of decrees restricting women’s right to work.
The restrictions on women’s employment are part of an institutionalized & systematized gender-based oppression called
#GenderApartheid
.
7️⃣ days until the third anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
Shortly after seizing power, the Taliban replaced the Ministry of Women's Affairs with the Ministry of Virtue and Vice—one of the most feared institutions violently enforcing restrictions on women 🧵
In her closing remarks,
@Metra_Mehran
shares the powerful and moving story of a young girl in Afghanistan, who wishes to return to school and asks the international community: "Is it true that you have forgotten me?"
#EndGenderApartheid
Afghan women must be included in every conversation about Afghanistan’s future.
Their exclusion is a direct legitimization of the Taliban’s gender apartheid.
#EndGenderApartheid
Justice Richard Goldstone shares his experience in working to dismantle racial apartheid South Africa & why it is vital that gender apartheid must be codified under international law.
He is a signatory on both the gender apartheid legal brief & the South African jurists’ letter.
Last week,
@SR_Afghanistan
presented his report on gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
In
@just_security
,
@Azadahrm
&
@GissouNia
discuss the report’s findings and explain what it means for codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity⤵️
در رویداد افتتاحیهی نخستین سلسله ”گفتوگوها مکانیزمهای پاسخگویی حقوق بینالملل در افغانستان“ اهمیت پاسخگویی به جنایات طالبان و تأثیر آن در دستیابی به صلح پایدار را مورد بررسی قرار خواهیم داد.
گفتوگو با
@Metra_Mehran
و
@azadahrm
🔗
"Through the bodies of Afghan women, the Taliban enforce their abusive moral and societal norms."
The Taliban recently announced it is resuming publicly stoning women to death. After 2.5 years of abuses with no accountability, the Taliban have grown bolder in targeting women.
🗣 “It’s not just about clothing; they are taking away our freedom to make our own choices. It is like they [Taliban] don’t accept women as human beings.”
#EndGenderApartheid
Bibi Gul, 21, tragically committed suicide in Afghanistan’s Kunduz province.
Bibi graduated from high school in 2021, but she was unable to continue her education due to the Taliban's ban on women attending universities.
Read more:
#EndGenderApartheid
6️⃣ days until the third anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
🗣️”Even though the situation has become much harder, we are still fighting the Taliban's gender apartheid. The fear is always there, but so is our determination,” said Huma from Kabul.
@Malala
joins the panel saying “I hope that on this day [International Women's Day], we make a commitment that the world will not turn its back on the women and girls of Afghanistan. For them, gender apartheid is now a life of fear and shrinking opportunity, every single day.”
The UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) is scheduled to debate the proposed Crimes Against Humanity treaty in October.
👉 This is an opportunity for Member States to hear the demands of Afghan women and recognize gender apartheid in the treaty.
#EndGenderApartheid
At the Nobel Peace Prize Forum 2023, Shirin Ebadi urged for the recognition of the crime of gender apartheid under international law to improve the lives of women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan.
Mrs. Ebadi is among the key signatories of the End Gender Apartheid campaign.
Thank you
@Malala
, for using your platform to raise awareness on such an important issue.
Your powerful Nelson Mandela Lecture should be a reminder to all countries to work towards making gender apartheid a crime against humanity.
#EndGenderApartheid
While in Johannesburg,
@Metra_Mehran
,
@karimabennoune
,
@ZiauddinY
and I met with
@Zwandid
to discuss how South Africa and other governments can make gender apartheid a crime against humanity — one critical way to stand with and support Afghan women and girls. We know South Africa
Today millions of Afghan women and girls refuse to surrender their dreams - and their human rights - we must be equally relentless in our resolve to stand with them.
@EduCannotWait
#Afghanistan
#afghangirlsvoices
Sharing her story,
@AzarNayera
says, “Overnight, I was stripped of every single basic right and reduced to a second class citizen. I lost the right to work, and my daughter like millions of girls in Afghanistan lost the right to go to school.”
In Badakhshan province, the Department of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is responsible for handling all cases related to violence against women and family disputes, often leading to verdicts against women, according to a Rawadari report.
#EndGenderApartheid
Womens rights defender and founder of Libertarian Women Movement, Tamana Zaryab Paryani issued a media statement calling on Germany to do more to stand in solidarity with the Afghan women who are facing gender apartheid under the Taliban.
#EndGenderApartheid
🗣️ “As we fled, no taxi would pick us up, and people on the street hurled insults at us, fearing that helping us would put them at risk. It was heartbreaking to see the fear and hatred in their eyes when all we were fighting for were our basic rights.“
— Huma from Kabul
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran,
@JavaidRehman
, warns that a proposed law in Iran, penalizing women and girls for not wearing the headscarf (hijab), constitutes systematic discrimination against women and amounts to gender apartheid.
#EndGenderApartheid
Under Taliban rule, women are no longer permitted to work as lawyers or judges in Afghanistan.
As of now, there are virtually no women employed within the legal and judicial institutions under Taliban control.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan has emphasized that the systematic discrimination and subjugation of women and girls by the Taliban demands a critical conversation about codifying the crime of "gender apartheid."
@SR_Afghanistan
#EndGenderApartheid
NPR has named
#genderapartheid
as a global buzzword that will shape the year ahead, citing the legal brief urging governments to codify the crime of gender apartheid.
“With activists ramping up their campaigning, will 2024 see gender apartheid codified under international law?”
🔊Join us on Instagram live in 20 minutes!
A discussion on the recent laws passed by the Taliban & their impacts on limiting women’s freedoms & cementing the ongoing gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
With
@GissouNia
@Metra_Mehran
@azadahrm
Link to join:
“For Afghan girls, the earth is unbearable, and the sky is unreachable. I just have one question, would the world leaders bear it if their daughters were banned from school?”
#EndGenderApartheid
Proud to stand with Afghan & Iranian women urging states to codify gender apartheid in the crimes against humanity treaty: .
We must recognize institutionalized, systematized gender oppression for what it is: apartheid.
@EGAcampaign
@SLPJustice
The international community must stand with Tamana Paryani and her fellow activists on hunger strike in protest of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
#EndGenderApartheid
Tamana Paryani and other activists have been on a hunger strike since September 1, demanding that the United Nations and international community recognize that the Taliban have created a system of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
The mother of a young student said she was beaten in the street for forgetting to wear socks and whipped in front of her children when her scarf was blown off by the wind.
#EndGenderApartheid
If you can’t join on Thursday, don’t miss next month’s session on Gender Apartheid, the ongoing investigations into Afghanistan's situation at the ICC, the potential of an ICJ case, and accountability under the Universal Jurisdiction.
We welcome suggestions for topics.
Taliban courts have overturned divorce decrees issued by the previous Afghan government. In some cases, these rulings have forced women, including those who fled abusive relationships, to return to their former husbands.
An Afghan woman from Parwan province said: "Three years have passed, but there has been no change in my life or the lives of other women. We are very tired of this situation.”
🔗 Read more:
In a statement to the UN General Assembly Sixth Commitee’s, the Permanent Mission of the Mexico to the UN's Alicia Buenrosto Massieu argues for the recognition of gender apartheid.
Governments should join the effort to codify gender apartheid under international law.
🗣️ “During our protests, we are consumed with fear—but this fight is bigger than any of us, not just for ourselves, but for the future of Afghanistan and its women.”
— Huma from Kabul
In my
@NelsonMandela
lecture in December, I called on governments to recognise
#genderapartheid
as an international crime so perpetrators like the Taliban who deny girls the right to go to school can be held accountable.
I'm glad six states have already raised this issue in
Proud to support Afghan and Iranian women in urging states to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. Visit . We must seize this moment to recognize institutionalized gender oppression as apartheid.
@EGAcampaign
@SLPJustice
“I hear stories of families getting punished, of men being questioned because a female relative wasn’t properly covered or was out without a valid reason. These aren't rumors; they are our daily reality.”
#EndGenderApartheid
She asks "In [the Taliban's] vision, women are less human than men. Women's education does not matter. Their rightful place is in the home. They have no role in decision-making and governance... Is this a future the international community is willing to support?"
The Taliban's Ministry of Virtue and Vice conducts arbitrary arrests, imposes inconsistent and unclear imprisonment terms, and engages in torture. Women protesters have been particularly targeted, with many being unjustly imprisoned.
#EndGenderApartheid
Narges Mohammadi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for her relentles fight against the oppression of women.
She is a signatory of the letter & brief urging UN Member States to codify gender apartheid in their upcoming Draft Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity.
#EndGenderApartheid
🗣️ “After every attack on our peaceful demonstrations, I, along with a few other women, would find a place to hide. But the Taliban always managed to trace us, threatening our families in the process.”
— Huma from Kabul
“When the Taliban took over, their first order of business was to begin putting out decrees against women. Women were banned from gyms, public spaces, from schools and university, from most jobs. They even barred women and girls from going to the park.”
#EndGenderApartheid
🗓️ Mark your calendars for this important discussion on gender apartheid in Afghanistan, taking place this Wednesday with our open letter key signatories
@azadahrm
and
@karimabennoune
.
During the Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, Malala states "I call on every government, in every country, to make gender apartheid a crime against humanity."
Shelters and safe houses for women victims of domestic violence, along with civil society-led protection and empowerment programs and women-led organizations, have all been dismantled, leaving Afghan women and girls increasingly vulnerable.
🗣️ “Even though the situation has become much harder, we are still fighting the Taliban's gender apartheid. The fear is always there, but so is our determination. We need the international community to amplify our voices, recognize our political agency, and stand by us.”
@karimabennoune
"Increasing attempts from international actors to normalize the Taliban despite their repressive policies, while Afghan women continue to risk their lives to demand equality. That should really outrage us. That is not acceptable."👏👏👏
Taliban courts now administer criminal and legal cases using various Islamic jurisprudential sources. Some judges reference classical Islamic texts, while others base their rulings on personal interpretations of Sharia law.
اگر فردا پنجشنبه نتوانستید، جلسهی ماه آینده که به موضوع آپارتاید جنسیتی، تحقیقات جاری درباره وضعیت افغانستان در دادگاه کیفری بینالمللی، امکان طرح پرونده در دیوان بینالمللی دادگستری و پاسخگویی تحت اصل صلاحیت جهانی اختصاص یافته است را از دست ندهید.
“I never thought my family would go hungry because I would be forced to stay at home. Now, I have no income. Even worse, I have no mahram [male guardian], so it is hard for me to even access humanitarian aid for my children. We must rely on the generosity of our neighbors.”
🗣️ Our protests were met with gunshots, pepper spray, water cannons, and eventually, they came after us, trying to arrest as many of us as they could.”
— Huma from Kabul
Immediately after its establishment, the Ministry of Virtue and Vice began expanding its influence across all aspects of society.
Women have been particularly targeted by the Ministry’s new laws and subjected to punishment by its soldiers without any due process while on patrol.
In her remarks, moderator
@JomanaCNN
says "“While the world’s attention has been focused elsewhere, the Taliban has issued since their takeover in 2021 have issued dozens of decrees that have directly curtailed the rights and dignity of women”
#EndGenderApartheid