A group of women protestors, affiliated with the Women’s Movement for Freedom, recently held an indoor protest in Kabul as they joined the call for recognition of gender apartheid in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Holding placards as they protest, these women spoke out against the Taliban’s repressive rules against women and girls which they say is a “campaign aimed at systematic and targeted killings.”
They also urged the international community to halt supporting the Taliban, saying the group should not be recognized.
This comes after a hunger strike in Germany was held by several women activists from Afghanistan, demanding the international community formally recognize the Taliban’s persecution against women and girls as “gender apartheid.”
Tamana Zaryab Paryani, a women’s rights activist who organized the 12-day strike since Friday, said that the Taliban has deprived women of their basic human rights because of their gender, adding that they have been subjected to torture, sexual abuse, killing, and discrimination by the group.
Several rights groups and experts have voiced concerns that the draconian treatment of women and girls by the Taliban amounts to gender apartheid as their rights to education, employment, mobility, appearance, and other freedoms have been gravely curtailed.
Taliban defines women’s rights in accordance with their strict interpretation of Islamic law and has shown no sign of bending amid mounting backlash and pressure to respect the rights of women under international human rights law.
