Since August 2021 the Taliban regime has erased Afghan women and girls from public life: no education beyond the sixth grade, no work, no freedom of movement without a male guardian. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans girls from secondary education. In July 2025 the International Criminal Court charged the Taliban's leaders with persecution on gender grounds — but it had to stop at "persecution," because gender apartheid is not yet a crime under international law. The law lacks a name for what is happening: an institutionalised system of domination over half of a people.

What we are asking for
The United Nations is now negotiating (2026–2029) a Crimes Against Humanity Convention: a concrete, time-limited chance to close that gap. We call on the negotiating states to:
1.    codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, by extending the existing crime of apartheid to include gender;
2.    guarantee the full and safe participation of Afghan women in the negotiations;
3.    refuse to normalise or recognise the Taliban regime while these policies persist;
4.    support accountability (the ICC arrest warrants) and safe, legal pathways for women and girls at risk.

Why it matters
Just as racial apartheid was made an international crime, gender apartheid can be too. Naming it is the first step to dismantling it. And the standard is universal: once codified, it would apply to every regime that institutionalises the subjugation of women — not only Kabul, but also, for example, Iran.
This is not the West against a religion. It is Afghan and Iranian women, jurists and experts who are asking for it — and the highest Islamic authorities, al-Azhar and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, have condemned the education ban as contrary to Islam. The law that protects half of humanity must apply to everyone, or it protects no one.

Sign and share: give a legal name to what Afghan women live every day.

Sources
UN experts / OHCHR · International Criminal Court · End Gender Apartheid campaign · Malala Fund

Learn more

To read the full story and the legal commentary on the ICC decision, visit our website. You will also find statements from Islamic authorities who have condemned Taliban policies, and the reasons why the international community cannot normalize relations with the regime.

I Will Not Look Away is a project that documents human rights violations and amplifies the voices of those demanding justice. We believe that informing people is the first step toward mobilizing public opinion.

Read the full article:
Afghanistan: the International Criminal Court charges the Taliban leadership with gender persecution