Human Rights Watch Urges European Countries to Recognise Gender Apartheid as a Crime Against Humanity

Heather Barr, Deputy Director of the Women’s Rights Division at Human Rights Watch, has urged European countries to support the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity in the United Nations treaty currently under negotiation on crimes against humanity.

Speaking online at a meeting at the European Parliament, Barr called on European governments to support the inclusion of gender apartheid in international law. She said Afghan women had been using the term since the 1990s to describe the systematic oppression they experienced under Taliban rule.

During the programme, Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders also called on European countries not to forget Afghanistan and to take meaningful action in response to the Taliban’s ongoing restrictions and abuses, particularly those targeting women and girls.

They stressed the importance of international accountability and urged European governments to stand with Afghan women and girls, whose rights to education, employment, freedom of movement and participation in public life continue to be severely restricted under Taliban rule.

Human rights advocates argue that recognising gender apartheid as a crime against humanity would help strengthen international accountability and provide a legal framework to address the systematic oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan.