The UN Human Rights Council will discuss the status of women and girls under the Taliban rule on 19 June in Geneva.
Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, will present his recent report on the situation of human rights violations in Afghanistan to the joint Working Group on discrimination against women and girls.
Two Afghan women’s rights activists, Parwana Ibrahimkhail and Negina Yari, are also scheduled to speak at the session.
The Special Rapporteur’s report, released on 15 June, documents the widespread and systematic discrimination against women and girls in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021. The report also highlights the resilience and strength of Afghan women in the face of such repressive conditions.
The report indicates that between September 2021 and May 2023, the Taliban issued more than 50 edicts further restricting women’s and girls’ rights, including their freedom of movement, attire, and behavior, as well as their access to education, work, health, and justice.
Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists have announced that they will present the latest findings of their May report, “The Taliban’s War on Women: The Crime against Humanity of Gender Persecution in Afghanistan,” at a side event during the session. The report highlights the gender persecution and Taliban’s repressive rules against women and girls in Afghanistan.
