Int’l Groups: UN Security Council Should Recognise Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
A group of international human rights organisations said that the Taliban has deprived women and girls of basic rights through their discriminatory policies.
A group of international human rights organisations said that the Taliban has deprived women and girls of basic rights through their discriminatory policies.
The NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security called on the Security Council to recognise the existence of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
In a report, the Working Group on Women, Peace and Security reviewed the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Congo and Israel/Palestine and published recommendations to the UN Security Council to improve the human rights situation in these countries in December.
These organisations expressed concern over the deterioration of the situation of women's rights in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban, and wrote that the Taliban continues to implement systematic policies of discrimination and gender segregation with the aim of eliminating women and girls.
These organisations have cited the implementation of the Taliban's Law on the Promotion of Virtue, violence, torture, and arbitrary detention of activists, journalists, protesting women, ethnic minorities, including Hazaras, and LGBTQ individuals, as human rights violations in Afghanistan.
"Women and girls are not safe even at home, as the Taliban has dismantled all systems to combat gender-based violence and forced men to control the behaviour of female members of their families," the report said.
The report also states that 13.3 million people in Afghanistan are in need of services to address gender-based violence, and a third of Afghan women currently face severe food insecurity.
These organisations have called on the UN Security Council to immediately ask the Taliban to repeal all policies that prevent women from fully enjoying their human rights.
The report also emphasises that Afghan women and the full, meaningful and equal participation of women and gender-diverse individuals in all Afghanistan-related meetings should be prioritised.
"Ensure that the UN Special Envoy for Afghanistan and their team have in-depth expertise in human rights and women's rights, and engage regularly and meaningfully with Afghan women and gender-diverse civil society," the report said.
The organisations added that the United Nations should urge the Taliban not to prevent women from working in governmental and non-governmental organisations.
