Global Call to Action: Human Rights Organizations Urge the International Community to Stand Against Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan and Amplify the Voices of Afghan Women.

A Canadian human rights organization, the Organization for World Peace (OWP), has called on the international community to take prompt measures to avert the establishment of a society characterized by gender apartheid in Afghanistan.

The organization cautioned against normalizing the current situation. The organization’s latest report called for increased efforts to amplify Afghan women’s voices and protect civic spaces, emphasizing the need for constructive engagement with the Taliban while avoiding actions that might legitimize the regime.

The Organization for World Peace warns against normalizing the Taliban’s oppressive regime and calls for urgent international action.

The Organization for World Peace OWP, tackles key issues like war and security, encouraging individuals and international organizations to think critically about peaceful resolutions to societal challenges.

OWP highlighted in its report that “since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, extreme restrictions on the rights of women and girls have been rigorously imposed”.

More recently, the Taliban instituted a new moral code known as the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which essentially eliminated women’s participation in public life and further stripped them of their liberty.

Under the Taliban’s regime, women are perceived as sources of temptation, compelling them to conceal their bodies, voices, and faces while imposing strict controls over their behavior and lifestyle. Despite these restrictions, women are courageously resisting by sharing videos of themselves singing, accompanied by powerful slogans such as “My voice is not forbidden” and “No to the Taliban.”

As stated by the Afghan Justice Ministry, penalties for violations encompass a range of measures. These may include providing advice, issuing warnings of divine retribution, delivering verbal threats, confiscating property, detaining individuals in public jails for one hour to three days, or any other suitable form of punishment as determined.

The Organization recommended strengthening Afghanistan’s civic space to address these challenges by providing financial and logistical support to local human rights organizations and non-governmental groups.

Since the Taliban’s takeover, extreme restrictions on women’s rights have been rigorously imposed, confining them to “virtual prisons.”

“Women are integral to the health and development of society,” the Organization for World Peace OWP emphasized. “Their continued exclusion and disempowerment will only impede Afghanistan’s prospects for peace and prosperity”, it added.

The watchdog further urged foreign governments to sustain pressure on the Taliban to improve women’s rights, while exercising caution to avoid granting legitimacy to the regime.

Meanwhile, The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has expressed “deep concern over the ongoing and severe erosion of Afghan women’s fundamental rights under Taliban rule”.

In a recent video message, Türk denounced the Taliban’s policies, describing them as a “flagrant disregard for half the population” and labelling the restrictions on women as “self-inflicted harm on a national scale.”

He urged the “Taliban to swiftly reverse their discriminatory policies, emphasising the urgent need to restore the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls”.

Türk condemned the Taliban’s decrees, restricting Afghan women’s freedoms, describing them as confining women to “virtual prisons within their homes.”

He warned that “these policies not only violate fundamental rights but also threaten Afghanistan’s future, undermining peace, development, and the prospects for future generations. “This is not only a tragedy for Afghan women, but a national calamity,” Türk asserted.

In the latest escalation against working women, the Taliban have ordered the closure of all women-only cafes in Herat, forcing female entrepreneurs to shutter their businesses and face an increasingly uncertain future.

These cafes, established over the past three were vital lifelines, providing income, community, and a semblance of independence in a society that continually narrows the spaces available to women.

Afghan women are courageously resisting by sharing their voices and experiences despite facing severe penalties and oppression.

These ventures emerged as a response to necessity. With many young women excluded from educational institutions and professional opportunities, entrepreneurship became a vital means of survival.

The government’s closure of key centres for communication and economic engagement is exacerbating the isolation of women, cutting off their community connections, and negating their societal contributions. The persistent campaign against women endangers their independence and existence, and also reflects the Taliban’s determination to enforce a stringent, exclusionary ideology that disregards the needs of half the population.

Maria Noori, an Afghan women’s rights activist currently in exile, says, ” These cafés were not just workplaces or recreational spots; they were safe havens for women, offering them spaces for connection, support, and some sense of independence. Now, with these spaces shut down, women are even more isolated, and the limited opportunities they had are disappearing.

According to Noori, these spaces, which were once essential for women to connect, socialize, and earn a living in an otherwise segregated society, have now been destroyed.

She noted “This ongoing pattern highlights the Taliban’s relentless effort to impose a rigid, exclusionary agenda, leaving Afghan women with fewer opportunities for autonomy and survival.”

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasizes the urgent need to restore Afghan women’s rights and denounces the Taliban’s discriminatory policies.

Noori emphasizes that the international community can no longer normalize the situation, stating, “Financial aid alone won’t solve the problem. Real political pressure must be applied to the Taliban”.

She underlined”the voices of Afghan women need to be heard, amplified, and supported. We, the women of Afghanistan, will never give up, but we need global solidarity. Only with meaningful support and action can we end this oppression and restore hope to our society”.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not represent the views, beliefs, or policies of the Stratheia.