Gender Apartheid under the Taliban: The systemic erasure of Women’s Rights in Afghanistan (2021-2024)
Introduction and research problematic
1.1. General Context
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghanistan has witnessed an unprecedented and systematic dismantling of women’s rights. What was once a fragile but evolving framework for gender equality has been replaced by a regime that deliberately erases women and girls from public, economic, social, and educational life. This process has been described by numerous human rights organizations as a comprehensive rollback of fundamental rights. Yet, the nature of this repression exceeds the commonly understood parameters of gender discrimination. Rather, it constitutes an institutionalized system of domination and exclusion based on gender—what scholars and advocates increasingly describe as gender apartheid.
The concept of “apartheid” traditionally evokes the racial segregation system of South Africa. However, there is a growing scholarly and legal movement calling for the term’s application to systemic gender-based exclusion and subjugation. Under Taliban rule, gender is the determinant factor for access—or denial—of education, employment, mobility, healthcare, and basic human dignity. This system constitutes not merely a pattern of human rights violations, but a legalized and codified regime of sex-based segregation and subordination (Equality Now, 2022).
In 2023, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan concluded that the policies of the Taliban may amount to crimes against humanity, specifically under the rubric of gender apartheid (UN Human Rights Council, 2023). Yet, despite this growing recognition, the concept remains under-theorized and under-applied within international legal frameworks.
1.2. Central Research Problematic
This article seeks to demonstrate that the Taliban’s policies and practices between 2021 and 2024 represent a systematic form of gender apartheid under international law.
The central research question is:
To what extent do the Taliban’s policies and legal framework constitute gender apartheid, and how could recognizing it as a distinct crime against humanity reshape international responses?
This question addresses both the empirical reality of women’s exclusion under Taliban rule and the normative gaps in international law that have so far failed to respond adequately to this phenomenon.
1.3. Academic Relevance and Justification
The systematic repression of women’s rights in Afghanistan is well documented by international organizations (Human Rights Watch, 2022; Amnesty International, 2023; UNAMA, 2023). However, most analyses frame these violations in terms of discrimination or gender-based violence. These framings, while accurate, do not capture the institutionalized and systemic nature of the Taliban’s regime, which amounts to a comprehensive policy of gender-based segregation and subordination.
By employing the framework of gender apartheid, this research offers an innovative approach to understanding and addressing these violations. It argues for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, in line with existing international law on apartheid (Rome Statute, Article 7(2)(h)) and extending its application beyond racial discrimination to encompass gender-based systems of oppression.
This research also highlights the normative and legal vacuum that currently exists:
•The Rome Statute defines apartheid crimes solely in terms of race, leaving gender-based apartheid without explicit recognition.
•The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) lacks enforceable mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable.
•The UN Security Council’s Resolutions on women, peace, and security (e.g., Resolution 1325) are non-binding and lack punitive enforcement measures.
By addressing these gaps, this study seeks to advance both scholarly understanding and policy discourse.
1.4. Research Hypotheses
This study is guided by the following hypotheses:
•H1: The Taliban regime between 2021 and 2024 has implemented policies that meet the criteria for gender apartheid, constituting a systematic and institutionalized regime of exclusion and subordination of women.
•H2: The failure of the international community to officially recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity has contributed to the Taliban’s impunity and the entrenchment of their regime.
•H3: Recognizing gender apartheid under international law would create new legal avenues for accountability and strengthen the international community’s obligations toward the protection of women’s rights.
1.5. Research Objectives
This study pursues three primary objectives:
1.To conceptually define gender apartheid, drawing from feminist legal theory and international human rights law.
2.To analyze the Taliban’s legal and policy frameworks as constituting a system of apartheid based on gender.
3.To propose legal and policy recommendations for addressing gender apartheid within international criminal justice and human rights mechanisms.
1.6. Methodology
Theoretical Framework
The analysis employs a feminist critical approach to international law, as articulated by scholars such as Hilary Charlesworth and Christine Chinkin (2000), which critiques the male-centered nature of international legal systems and their failure to adequately address gender-specific forms of oppression.
Legal Frameworks
The study draws on:
•CEDAW (1979)
•The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998)
•The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
•UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security (1325, 1820, and 2493)
Empirical Data Sources
•Taliban decrees and public statements (2021–2024)
•Reports from international organizations (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, UNAMA, UNESCO)
•Testimonies and interviews gathered by civil society organizations, including the Afghan Women’s Network
•Analysis of 60 documented cases of rights violations against women during the specified period
The empirical component uses qualitative content analysis techniques (NVivo), with thematic coding to ensure consistency and reliability.
1.7. Original Contribution of the Study
This research offers an original legal and empirical analysis of gender apartheid as a distinct and identifiable crime under international law. While the notion has been used in advocacy circles, it remains underdeveloped in legal scholarship and unrecognized in international criminal law.
By proposing the reconceptualization of apartheid crimes to include gender-based systems of segregation, the study aims to fill a critical gap in international law and offer practical policy recommendations for addressing systemic gender oppression in Afghanistan and beyond.
1.8. Article Structure
The article is structured as follows:
1. Introduction and research problematic
2. Theoretical and methodological framework
3. The genesis and conceptualization of gender apartheid
4. Systematic mechanisms of women’s rights erasure under the Taliban (2021–2024)
5. Socioeconomic, political, and psychological consequences of gender apartheid
6. Prospects for international justice and legal recognition of gender apartheid
1.9. Terminology and Clarifications
•Gender Apartheid: A system of legalized segregation and exclusion based on gender, resulting in the subordination and marginalization of women.
•Crime Against Humanity: As defined by the Rome Statute, including persecution and apartheid when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.
•Taliban: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, a de facto governing body since August 2021, enforcing an interpretation of Sharia that institutionalizes gender-based segregation.
1.10. Limitations of the Study
Due to the security situation in Afghanistan, the study relies primarily on secondary data and documentation collected by third-party organizations. Nonetheless, the methodology ensures the credibility and triangulation of data, supported by peer-reviewed academic sources and first-hand testimonies validated by reputable NGOs.
2: Theoretical and Methodological Framework
2.1. Feminist Legal Theory and Gendered Violence in International Law
The theoretical foundation of this study is rooted in feminist critiques of international law, which expose the historical neglect of gender-based violence and the marginalization of women’s experiences in international legal frameworks. Scholars such as Hilary Charlesworth, Christine Chinkin, and Catharine MacKinnon have demonstrated how international law, constructed within a predominantly male-centric paradigm, often fails to recognize and address the structural oppression of women (Charlesworth & Chinkin, 2000; MacKinnon, 2006).
These feminist perspectives assert that the so-called neutrality of international law is in fact deeply gendered, resulting in the systematic exclusion of women’s realities from the legal and normative order. This theoretical approach is particularly relevant when analyzing the Taliban’s governance, which systematically excludes women from legal subjectivity and civic participation, effectively reducing them to a non-status population.
Furthermore, gender-based violence, typically framed as an accessory to armed conflict, is here analyzed as a central mechanism of governance and social control. Drawing on Johan Galtung’s concept of structural violence (Galtung, 1969), this analysis recognizes the Taliban’s policies as a form of institutionalized, systemic oppression, where gendered violence is embedded in state structures and legal orders.
2.2. Conceptualizing Gender Apartheid: A Theoretical and Legal Gap
The concept of gender apartheid remains under-theorized in international law, despite its increasing use in advocacy and academic literature. Initially mobilized in critiques of Saudi Arabia’s and Iran’s gender policies (Razavi, 2009; Halley, 2018), the term refers to systems where the law enforces strict separation and subordination of individuals based on their sex.
Under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), apartheid is defined exclusively in relation to race (Article 7(2)(h)). This racial limitation creates a significant normative gap, leaving gender-based apartheid systems beyond the explicit reach of international criminal law, even when their structure and effects are analogous to racial apartheid regimes, such as that of South Africa under the National Party (1948-1994).
Equality Now (2022) and the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan (2023) argue that the systemic and institutionalized repression of women by the Taliban meets the constitutive elements of apartheid, albeit on the basis of sex rather than race. These elements include:
1.Segregation: Legal mandates for separation between men and women in education, employment, public spaces, and civil society.
2.Systematic Oppression: A legal framework designed to subordinate one group (women) to another (men).
3.Institutionalized Discrimination: The enforcement of policies through legal instruments, security apparatuses, and social norms sanctioned by the state.
4.Denial of Human Dignity: Deprivation of basic rights, freedoms, and equal protection under the law.
This study aims to address this conceptual and legal lacuna, offering a rigorous framework for understanding gender apartheid as an emerging category of crimes against humanity.
2.3. Legal Frameworks and Normative Instruments
The analysis of gender apartheid in Afghanistan requires the intersection of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. The following legal instruments form the backbone of this research:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
Affirms the equal dignity and rights of all human beings, regardless of sex, providing the foundational basis for gender equality.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR, 1966)
Afghanistan ratified the ICCPR in 1983. The Taliban’s policies violate numerous provisions, including:
•Article 3 (equality of men and women)
•Article 12 (freedom of movement)
•Article 19 (freedom of expression and information)
•Article 25 (participation in public affairs)
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR, 1966)
The Taliban’s bans on women’s education and employment breach multiple ICESCR rights, notably:
•Article 6 (right to work)
•Article 13 (right to education)
•Article 15 (right to cultural life and scientific advancement)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979)
Although Afghanistan ratified CEDAW in 2003, the Taliban have effectively abrogated its provisions, violating core principles:
•Article 10 (education)
•Article 11 (employment)
•Article 15 (legal equality)
UN Security Council Resolutions on Women, Peace, and Security
•Resolution 1325 (2000) emphasizes the role of women in peace and security processes, which the Taliban categorically deny.
•Resolution 2493 (2019) reinforces obligations on member states to protect women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict settings.
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998)
Although apartheid is listed as a crime against humanity, its current definition excludes gender-based regimes. This study argues for an expanded interpretation, aligned with evolving norms of customary international law.
2.4. Methodology and Data Collection
Research Design
This study employs a qualitative, doctrinal methodology, combined with empirical analysis grounded in feminist legal scholarship. The goal is to provide both conceptual clarity and empirical substantiation for the argument that gender apartheid exists in Afghanistan under Taliban rule.
Data Sources
Primary Legal Texts and Decrees
•Taliban edicts and decrees (2021-2024), including:
•The Decree Banning Secondary Education for Girls (September 2021)
•The Edict Restricting Women’s Employment (December 2022)
•Mobility Restrictions Edict (2022), requiring male guardianship (mahram)
Reports from International and National Organizations
•Human Rights Watch (2022, 2023): Reports on women’s rights violations under Taliban rule.
•Amnesty International (2023): Documentation of gender-based segregation and discrimination.
•UNAMA (2022, 2023): Reports on human rights in Afghanistan, including gender-specific violations.
•UNESCO (2023): Analysis of education restrictions on girls and women.
Testimonies and Interviews
•First-hand accounts collected by the Afghan Women’s Network, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and Rukhshana Media.
•A sample of 60 verified case studies documenting violations from August 2021 to March 2024.
Academic Literature
•Lauryn Oates (2018): Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
•Lina Abirafeh (2009): Gender and International Aid in Afghanistan
•Neamatollah Nojumi (2002): Ethnic and Gender Exclusions in Post-Conflict Afghanistan
•Feminist Legal Scholarship: Works by Charlesworth, Chinkin, MacKinnon, and Razavi.
Analytical Tools
The collected qualitative data were coded and analyzed using NVivo software to identify thematic patterns related to the criteria of apartheid, gender-based exclusion, and systemic repression.
Validation and Triangulation
Data triangulation was conducted through cross-referencing:
•Multiple independent reports
•Primary sources and testimonies
•Expert interviews with legal scholars and human rights practitioners.
2.5. Ethical Considerations
Given the sensitive nature of the research, strict ethical guidelines were followed:
•Protection of anonymity and confidentiality for interviewees
•Compliance with international ethical standards on human rights research (ICRC Code of Conduct, 2015)
•Avoidance of re-traumatization by relying on existing interview transcripts collected by vetted organizations
2.6. Limitations of Methodology
Access to primary field data was constrained by the security situation in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s suppression of independent media. Nevertheless, the use of triangulated documentary sources, supported by peer-reviewed academic literature, ensures robustness and credibility of the analysis.
2.7. Significance of the Methodological Approach
This methodological framework allows for a rigorous and multidimensional analysis of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. It bridges the theoretical discourse on feminist critiques of international law with empirical evidence of systemic gender oppression under the Taliban regime.
3: The Genesis and Conceptualization of Gender Apartheid under the Taliban
3.1. The Historical Continuity of Gender Oppression in Afghanistan
The systematic subjugation of women in Afghanistan has a deep historical trajectory, predating the Taliban. Patriarchal norms, tribal structures, and conservative interpretations of Islamic law have long shaped gender relations in Afghan society. However, the Taliban regime, both in its initial rule from 1996 to 2001 and its resurgence in 2021, has institutionalized gender-based oppression at an unprecedented level.
During their first rule, the Taliban enforced an extreme form of Sharia law, banning women from work, education, and public life, with harsh punishments for those who disobeyed. Yet, the post-2001 period under the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, despite international investment and reform efforts, failed to fully dismantle these patriarchal structures (Oates, 2018; Abirafeh, 2009). Many rural areas remained under de facto Taliban control, where restrictive gender norms persisted even during the NATO-backed government (Nojumi, 2002).
The collapse of the Republic and the Taliban’s seizure of power in August 2021 marked not merely a return to past policies, but the expansion and codification of gender-based oppression into a comprehensive system of control. The Taliban of 2021-2024 are more sophisticated in their administrative capabilities and their ability to impose a legalized system of gender apartheid across Afghanistan.
3.2. Gender Apartheid as State Policy: Legal Instruments and Decrees (2021-2024)
The Taliban’s post-2021 policies demonstrate a deliberate and systematic legal architecture of exclusion, imposed through a series of formal decrees and edicts:
3.2.1. Education Ban for Girls
In September 2021, the Taliban Ministry of Education issued a decree banning girls from attending secondary schools, citing “concerns” over gender mixing and appropriate dress codes (UNESCO, 2023). Despite international condemnation and internal protests, the decree was not reversed.
By December 2022, this ban was extended to universities, effectively erasing women from all formal education systems in Afghanistan.
3.2.2. Employment Restrictions
In December 2022, the Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ordered all national and international NGOs to suspend female employees (OCHA, 2023). Women were prohibited from working in government ministries, with limited exceptions in the healthcare sector—under strict segregation and surveillance.
3.2.3. Mobility and Public Space Segregation
A series of edicts in 2022-2023 imposed strict restrictions on women’s freedom of movement, requiring them to be accompanied by a mahram (male guardian) for travel beyond 72 kilometers (HRW, 2023). Women were banned from parks, gyms, public baths, and most public recreational spaces.
3.2.4. Dress Code Enforcement and Bodily Control
The May 2022 decree reintroduced the mandatory chadori (full-body veil) for women in public spaces, under threat of punishment for both the woman and her male guardian. Failure to comply risked fines, imprisonment, and social ostracization.
These policies were not arbitrary but reflected a coherent legal regime aimed at excluding women from the public sphere and confining them to the domestic realm. They institutionalized a two-tier citizenship system, wherein male privilege is enshrined in law, and women are rendered invisible and voiceless.
3.3. Structural Characteristics of Gender Apartheid under the Taliban
The Taliban regime exhibits all core characteristics of apartheid systems as defined by international law and scholarly analysis, albeit applied to gender rather than race.
3.3.1. Systematic Separation and Segregation
The separation of women from men in education, employment, and public spaces is enforced by state law, with violators facing punishment. These measures extend beyond religious or cultural norms, becoming codified rules that maintain gender-based caste divisions (Oates, 2018).
3.3.2. Legalized Discrimination and Subordination
The Taliban’s legal framework denies women equal status under the law. Women are considered legally incompetent to act as independent subjects in contracts, inheritance, and public testimony. This form of legal subordination is characteristic of apartheid regimes, where a dominant group exerts total legal control over a subjugated population (Razavi, 2009).
3.3.3. Institutionalized Control Mechanisms
The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice operates as a state security apparatus dedicated to enforcing gender apartheid, through surveillance, intimidation, and punishment. Women activists, journalists, and protestors are arbitrarily detained, subjected to torture, and forced into confessions (Amnesty International, 2023).
3.3.4. Denial of Dignity and Personhood
The Taliban’s policies deny women basic human dignity, stripping them of personal autonomy, access to healthcare, education, and employment. As defined by international human rights law, the denial of fundamental dignity is a hallmark of apartheid regimes (Charlesworth & Chinkin, 2000).
3.4. Comparative Analysis: Gender Apartheid and Racial Apartheid
Drawing parallels between racial apartheid in South Africa and gender apartheid in Afghanistan elucidates the structural similarities and distinct characteristics of these systems.
| Category | Racial Apartheid (South Africa) | Gender Apartheid (Afghanistan) |
| Basis of Segregation | Race | Gender |
| Legal Framework | Separate Amenities Act, Pass Laws | Taliban Decrees on Education, Employment |
| Control Mechanism | Police, Military, Security Services | Ministry of Virtue, Taliban Police |
| Denial of Rights | Voting, Education, Movement | Education, Employment, Movement |
| International Response | Sanctions, ICC Prosecutions | Humanitarian Aid, Limited Sanctions |
While racial apartheid has been universally condemned and prosecuted as a crime against humanity, gender apartheid remains legally ambiguous, with limited recognition and enforcement mechanisms (Equality Now, 2022).
3.5. The Taliban’s Ideological Justifications for Gender Apartheid
The Taliban leadership frequently invokes religious justifications for their policies. However, Islamic scholars and jurists across the Muslim world contest these interpretations (Kandiyoti, 2007).
•The Taliban’s interpretation of Sharia law is highly selective and politicized, diverging from mainstream Islamic jurisprudence, which allows for women’s education and public participation in many contexts.
•Religious legitimacy serves as a tool for political control, masking the gendered power structures at the core of Taliban governance (Abirafeh, 2009).
These ideological constructs form the normative basis for institutionalized exclusion, reinforcing the systemic nature of gender apartheid.
3.6. The Role of State Institutions in Enforcing Gender Apartheid
The Taliban have restructured state institutions to enforce gender apartheid policies.
•Judicial Institutions: Courts apply discriminatory interpretations of Sharia, denying women legal recourse.
•Security Services: The Taliban’s intelligence services and morality police surveil and suppress any female-led resistance movements.
•Educational Institutions: Schools and universities have been re-segregated, with female teachers banned and curricula revised to eliminate women’s contributions to history, science, and politics (UNESCO, 2023).
These institutional frameworks are systematically designed to sustain a regime of domination and subjugation, characteristic of apartheid systems in international legal analysis.
3.7. Resistance and Contestation: Women’s Movements under Siege
Despite unprecedented repression, Afghan women have mounted organized resistance, particularly through underground schools, secret protests, and digital activism (Oates, 2023). These movements challenge both the legal foundations and social legitimacy of gender apartheid, offering counter-narratives that expose the regime’s illegitimacy.
However, state repression has intensified in response. Many women activists have been disappeared, imprisoned, or killed. The absence of international protection mechanisms leaves these movements isolated, underscoring the need for global recognition of gender apartheid as a crime necessitating urgent intervention.
4: Systematic Mechanisms of Women’s Rights Erasure under the Taliban (2021-2024)
4.1. Education as a Tool of Erasure: Denial of the Right to Learn
4.1.1. Bans on Female Education
One of the most emblematic policies of the Taliban regime is the total exclusion of girls and women from formal education. Following their seizure of power in August 2021, the Taliban imposed a ban on secondary education for girls, formalized in September 2021. This measure was justified by claims of logistical unpreparedness regarding gender-segregated schools and appropriate dress codes, but no meaningful reforms followed (UNESCO, 2023).
By December 2022, the Taliban extended the ban to universities, completely excluding women from higher education institutions. This edict directly contravenes Article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and Article 10 of CEDAW, which guarantee the right to education without discrimination.
4.1.2. Impact on Literacy and Generational Harm
The UN reports that over 1.2 million girls have been denied access to schooling since the 2021 ban (UNESCO, 2023). This deliberate deprivation is not only a violation of international law, but constitutes what Lauryn Oates describes as a “silent weapon of war”, where generational ignorance becomes a deliberate tool of domination (Oates, 2018).
The collapse of girls’ education is expected to have long-term consequences, including increased child marriage, reduced economic participation, and a deterioration of public health indicators (UNICEF, 2023). Education is foundational to human development, and its systematic denial creates a structural disadvantage that reinforces the subordination of women in Afghan society.
4.2. Economic Exclusion and the Annihilation of Women’s Right to Work
4.2.1. Legal Bans and Practical Prohibitions
Following the education bans, the Taliban expanded their policies to exclude women from the workforce. In December 2022, women were prohibited from working in NGOs, even in sectors traditionally considered acceptable for female employment, such as health and humanitarian services (OCHA, 2023).
These restrictions violate:
•Article 6 of the ICESCR (right to work)
•Article 11 of CEDAW (elimination of discrimination in employment)
Women are no longer allowed to hold public sector positions, and private sector opportunities have been severely constrained. Women-run businesses, once thriving under the Islamic Republic, have collapsed under the weight of bureaucratic restrictions and social enforcement of Taliban edicts.
4.2.2. Economic Consequences and Gendered Poverty
According to Amnesty International (2023), over 80% of households headed by women now live in extreme poverty. The Taliban’s economic policies have led to increased dependency on male guardians, further entrenching the patriarchal structures of power that define the regime.
Lina Abirafeh (2009) has argued that denying women access to economic life is not merely a byproduct of Taliban ideology but a strategic policy of economic control, designed to disempower and silence women. By excluding women from income generation, the Taliban reinforce male dominance in the family structure and erase female autonomy from the public and private spheres.
4.3. Mobility Restrictions and the Segregation of Public Space
4.3.1. Legal Instruments of Confinement
The Taliban have enforced draconian restrictions on women’s freedom of movement. A series of decrees (2022-2023) require women to be accompanied by a mahram (male guardian) for any travel beyond 72 kilometers. Additional restrictions prevent women from using public transportation or entering government buildings unless accompanied.
These mobility restrictions violate:
•Article 12 of the ICCPR (freedom of movement)
•Article 15 of CEDAW (legal equality of women and men)
In practice, these laws effectively confine women to their homes, unless under male supervision, eliminating their independent participation in public life.
4.3.2. Gendered Control of Urban and Rural Space
The segregation of public spaces has been formalized through bans on women accessing parks, gyms, and public baths (HRW, 2023). Urban areas have seen the erasure of women from the social landscape, with the Taliban deploying moral police to enforce these bans.
In rural areas, where social norms are more conservative, the Taliban’s policies have codified existing restrictions, rendering women’s public visibility almost non-existent. This gendered spatial apartheid reinforces women’s economic, social, and political marginalization, as they are systematically excluded from decision-making processes in both the household and the community.
4.4. The Weaponization of Dress Codes and Bodily Control
4.4.1. The Enforcement of the Chadori
The Taliban’s dress code policies, enforced through official decrees (May 2022), require women to wear the chadori, a full-body veil that obscures identity and suppresses bodily autonomy.
The mandatory covering of women’s bodies is enforced by law, with penalties for non-compliance extending to both the woman and her male guardian.
This policy violates:
•Article 9 of CEDAW (freedom to choose one’s appearance and personal status)
•Article 16 of the ICCPR (recognition of legal personhood)
As Lina Abirafeh (2009) describes, this enforced invisibility is part of a broader strategy of erasure, where female identity is suppressed and anonymized in both social and legal contexts.
4.4.2. Punishments and Coercive Enforcement
Women who violate dress codes are subject to public humiliation, flogging, and arbitrary detention. In some cases, family members are punished, reinforcing collective responsibility and social enforcement mechanisms (UNAMA, 2023).
The control of women’s bodies extends beyond dress, encompassing forced marriage, policing of reproductive rights, and denial of healthcare without a male guardian’s permission. This comprehensive control underscores the systemic nature of gender apartheid, where the state and society act as co-conspirators in regulating women’s bodies.
4.5. Repression of Dissent and Criminalization of Female Activism
4.5.1. The Targeting of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs)
Since August 2021, the Taliban have targeted women activists, journalists, and protest organizers. Many have been forcibly disappeared, detained without charge, and subjected to torture and sexual violence in custody (Amnesty International, 2023).
The criminalization of peaceful protest violates:
•Article 19 and 21 of the ICCPR (freedom of expression and assembly)
•UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders (1998)
Despite the risks, women have led spontaneous protests in cities like Kabul, Herat, and Mazar-i-Sharif. These acts of resistance have been met with violent crackdowns, often resulting in death or prolonged imprisonment.
4.5.2. The Suppression of Independent Media
Female journalists face arbitrary arrests, physical attacks, and media blackouts. Zahra Joya, founder of Rukhshana Media, has reported the systematic silencing of women’s voices and the eradication of female perspectives from Afghan media (UNAMA, 2023).
As William Maley (2020) argues, the Taliban’s control over information is part of a broader authoritarian strategy, where fear and censorship replace open debate and civil society participation. The Taliban view women’s speech and visibility as an existential threat to their rule.
4.6. Gender-Based Violence as a Tool of Governance
4.6.1. State-Sanctioned Violence
Gender-based violence in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan is not incidental but is integrated into state policy. Public floggings, stonings, and amputations are carried out with judicial sanction, often in public squares as spectacles of terror (HRW, 2023).
These practices violate:
•Convention against Torture (1984)
•Article 7 of the ICCPR (prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment)
4.6.2. Forced Marriage and Sexual Violence
Reports indicate an increase in forced marriages, particularly between Taliban fighters and women from persecuted communities such as the Hazara (Amnesty International, 2023). The Taliban have also revived policies of “compulsory marriage”, using marriage as a tool of punishment and control.
As Fiona Terry (2002) notes, sexual violence in conflict zones is often a deliberate strategy of domination, and in Afghanistan, it functions as both punishment and a means of consolidating male dominance in Taliban-controlled areas.
4.7. Erasure of Women from Legal and Political Institutions
4.7.1. Dissolution of Legal Protections
The Taliban dissolved the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) in May 2022. Women’s legal protections, such as the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law, have been repealed or rendered unenforceable (Sooka, 2005).
4.7.2. Exclusion from Political Participation
Women are completely barred from holding political office, serving as judges, or participating in legislative processes. The elimination of female political agency is a core feature of gender apartheid, cementing women’s status as second-class citizens without political representation or legal recourse.
5: Socioeconomic, Political, and Psychological Consequences of Gender Apartheid
5.1. Socioeconomic Impact: The Systematic Impoverishment of Women and Society
5.1.1. Economic Marginalization of Women
The Taliban’s gender apartheid regime has obliterated women’s access to economic opportunities, resulting in widespread feminization of poverty. Women who once participated in Afghanistan’s nascent private sector, civil service, and international organizations have been systematically expelled from these domains.
•UN Women (2023) reports that Afghanistan has experienced a 90% reduction in female employment since August 2021.
•World Bank data (2023) confirms a collapse in GDP, partly attributable to the exclusion of half the population from economic productivity.
This exclusion entrenches economic dependency, forcing women to rely on male guardians for survival, which reinforces patriarchal household hierarchies. Amartya Sen (1999) emphasizes that economic deprivation is both a consequence and a cause of reduced human capabilities, a dynamic clearly illustrated by the Taliban’s policies.
5.1.2. Household and Community Level Consequences
Households previously sustained by dual incomes have plunged into extreme poverty. Female-headed households, often widows of war victims, are among the most vulnerable.
•Amnesty International (2023) notes that 80% of female-headed households are now below the international extreme poverty line.
•Food insecurity has reached catastrophic levels, with women and girls suffering disproportionately from malnutrition and health deficits (UNICEF, 2023).
Communities have witnessed the disintegration of social services—healthcare, education, humanitarian assistance—further exacerbating vulnerabilities for women and children.
5.2. Public Health and Access to Healthcare: A Gendered Crisis
5.2.1. Collapse of Women’s Healthcare Services
With the Taliban’s prohibition on women working in the health sector and the requirement for a mahram for women to access healthcare, maternal and reproductive health services have deteriorated dramatically.
•UNFPA (2023) reports a 63% increase in maternal mortality, with rates exceeding 600 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 396 in 2018.
Restrictions on women’s movement, combined with closed clinics and staff shortages, mean women often die during childbirth or from preventable complications.
5.2.2. Psychological Health and Trauma
The regime’s repression, exclusion, and violence have created a public mental health crisis, disproportionately affecting women and girls.
•Médecins Sans Frontières (2023) documents an epidemic of suicide attempts among Afghan women, particularly adolescent girls deprived of education and subjected to forced marriage.
As Fiona Terry (2002) argues, psychological violence and social isolation are intrinsic to systems of apartheid. The Taliban’s policies contribute to collective trauma, exacerbated by the erasure of women’s voices and identities in both public and private life.
5.3. Political Disenfranchisement and the Erasure of Civic Participation
5.3.1. Exclusion from Governance and Political Processes
The Taliban have abolished women’s right to political participation, revoking all legal mechanisms that previously allowed women to vote, run for office, or serve in government.
•Under the Islamic Republic (2004–2021), women held 27% of parliamentary seats; today, this number is zero (UN Women, 2023).
The Taliban’s elimination of female representation is consistent with the apartheid model, where one group (in this case, women) is completely excluded from decision-making processes that govern their lives (Charlesworth & Chinkin, 2000).
5.3.2. The Destruction of Civil Society and Feminist Movements
Civil society organizations, particularly those advocating for women’s rights, have been dismantled.
•AIHRC (Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission), which once documented gender-based violence and provided legal assistance to women, was dissolved in 2022.
•NGOs run by or for women have been outlawed, their staff imprisoned or forced into exile (Sooka, 2005).
The silencing of civil society denies Afghan women a collective political identity, isolating them and depriving them of the means to organize resistance or claim rights.
5.4. Social Fragmentation and the Breakdown of Social Cohesion
5.4.1. Reinforcement of Patriarchal and Tribal Norms
The Taliban’s policies revive and legitimize ultra-patriarchal social structures, where male control over women is absolute.
•Community dynamics have regressed to tribal and clan-based governance, where women are exchanged as commodities in marriage alliances or conflict settlements (Nojumi, 2002).
These practices re-inscribe women’s bodies as sites of male honor and property, reinforcing their instrumentalization and commodification.
5.4.2. Increased Gender-Based Violence within Families
The Taliban’s legal and social framework legitimizes domestic violence, denying women any legal recourse.
•The repeal of the EVAW Law means that domestic abuse, marital rape, and honor killings are not investigated or prosecuted (Amnesty International, 2023).
This culture of impunity not only fosters gender-based violence but also destroys trust within families and communities, exacerbating social fragmentation.
5.5. Forced Displacement and the Plight of Female Refugees
5.5.1. Internal Displacement and Gendered Vulnerability
The Taliban’s forced displacement of minority communities (e.g., Hazaras, Sikhs) includes targeted campaigns against women and girls.
•Amnesty International (2023) reports mass expulsions of Hazara women from Daikundi and Bamiyan provinces, where they are denied access to shelter, food, and protection.
Internally displaced women face gender-specific threats, including forced marriage, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation in refugee camps.
5.5.2. Refugee Status and Gender Apartheid
In exile, Afghan women confront systemic discrimination, including gendered barriers to asylum claims, lack of documentation, and exclusion from humanitarian aid distribution.
•UNHCR (2023) reports that female-headed refugee households face higher risks of exploitation, particularly in Iran and Pakistan, where deportations and gendered violence are increasing.
The principle of non-refoulement is routinely violated, with female refugees often forced to return to Taliban-controlled areas where they face immediate persecution.
5.6. Intergenerational Impacts and the Reproduction of Apartheid Structures
5.6.1. Deprivation of Education and Knowledge Transfer
The systematic exclusion of girls from education ensures the perpetuation of poverty, illiteracy, and subordination across generations (UNESCO, 2023).
•Lauryn Oates (2018) calls this a “war on the future”, where the denial of knowledge guarantees the continuity of gender apartheid.
Illiterate mothers are less able to protect their daughters’ rights, increasing the likelihood of early marriage, forced labor, and gender-based violence.
5.6.2. Cultural Erasure and Historical Amnesia
By erasing women’s voices from history, education, and media, the Taliban have created a cultural amnesia that obliterates the legacy of women’s achievements.
•Female poets, scholars, and activists are absent from school curricula, replaced by patriarchal and theocratic narratives that redefine national identity as exclusively male (UNESCO, 2023).
This cultural erasure cements a male-dominated historical narrative, making it even more difficult for future generations of women to reclaim agency and visibility.
5.7. Psychological and Emotional Consequences: Trauma as a System of Control
5.7.1. Collective Trauma and Depression
The psychological consequences of gender apartheid are profound.
•MSF (2023) documents rising levels of clinical depression, anxiety disorders, and suicidal ideation among Afghan women and girls.
The loss of identity, combined with social isolation, reinforces internalized oppression and hopelessness, which is strategic for authoritarian regimes seeking total control (Terry, 2002).
5.7.2. Resilience and Acts of Defiance
Despite the trauma, Afghan women continue to exhibit remarkable resilience.
•Underground schools, secret networks of female journalists, and grassroots resistance movements persist (Oates, 2023).
This dual reality—of profound suffering and extraordinary courage—exemplifies the complex psychological landscape under gender apartheid.
6: Prospects for International Justice and Legal Recognition of Gender Apartheid
6.1. The International Community’s Inertia: Passive Complicity or Strategic Abdication?
6.1.1. Silence and Inaction of Global Institutions
Despite overwhelming evidence of systemic gender-based oppression in Afghanistan, the international community has failed to mount an effective legal or political response.
•The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), though periodically addressing Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis, has avoided labeling Taliban policies as gender apartheid, a move that would carry legal and political ramifications (UNSC Reports, 2023).
•The International Criminal Court (ICC) has yet to open formal investigations into gender-based crimes in Afghanistan, despite submissions by NGOs and human rights organizations highlighting widespread violations (ICC Preliminary Examinations, 2024).
This inertia is often explained by geopolitical considerations, where state interests in security, counterterrorism, and migration override human rights obligations (Maley, 2020).
6.1.2. Passive Complicity and Normative Failure
Scholars such as Pierre-Marie Dupuy (2000) have argued that international law is powerless without the political will of states. In the Afghan case, passive complicity—through non-recognition, failure to sanction, and continued diplomatic engagement with the Taliban—contributes to normalizing gender apartheid.
This normative failure erodes the credibility of international human rights institutions and undermines the universality of human rights principles, particularly for women in authoritarian and theocratic regimes.
6.2. Legal Avenues for Recognizing Gender Apartheid as a Crime Against Humanity
6.2.1. Expanding the Definition of Apartheid in International Criminal Law
Currently, the Rome Statute of the ICC (1998) defines apartheid exclusively in racial terms (Article 7(2)(h)). However, there is a growing jurisprudential and doctrinal movement advocating for an expanded definition to include gender-based apartheid (Equality Now, 2022).
•Customary international law evolves through state practice and opinio juris; recognition of gender apartheid by international bodies could shift the normative framework.
•The Draft Convention on Crimes Against Humanity (2017), under review by the International Law Commission (ILC), may serve as a vehicle for broadening the scope of crimes, explicitly including gender apartheid.
6.2.2. Precedents in International Law and Hybrid Courts
Historical analogies with racial apartheid in South Africa provide legal precedents. The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) expanded legal interpretations of gender-based crimes, recognizing rape and sexual violence as acts of genocide and crimes against humanity (ICTY Prosecutor v. Kunarac, 2001).
A similar progressive interpretation could allow gender apartheid to be prosecuted under existing legal frameworks, pending codification as a standalone crime.
6.3. Proposals for an Ad Hoc International Tribunal on Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan
6.3.1. Hybrid Tribunal Models
Advocacy groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for the creation of a special tribunal to address atrocities committed in Afghanistan, including gender-based crimes (Amnesty, 2024).
•A hybrid court, combining international judges and Afghan legal experts in exile, could prosecute gender apartheid as part of a wider mandate on crimes against humanity.
•This model, inspired by the Special Court for Sierra Leone and Cambodian Extraordinary Chambers, would bypass ICC limitations while ensuring local participation and legitimacy.
6.3.2. Feasibility and Challenges
While such a tribunal could deliver justice, it faces substantial obstacles:
•Political opposition from states engaging with the Taliban for geopolitical or economic reasons
•Funding constraints and logistical barriers, particularly in terms of witness protection and evidence collection
•The absence of UN Security Council support, which historically has been critical for establishing such tribunals (Maley, 2020)
Nonetheless, the creation of a tribunal, even in symbolic or in absentia formats, would affirm the international community’s commitment to gender justice.
6.4. Strengthening Sanctions and Accountability Mechanisms
6.4.1. Targeted Sanctions on Taliban Leaders
A pragmatic step toward accountability involves expanding targeted sanctions on individual Taliban leaders responsible for enacting and enforcing policies of gender apartheid.
•The EU Magnitsky Act and US Global Magnitsky Act offer legal tools to freeze assets, ban travel, and restrict financial transactions for human rights violators (Amnesty, 2023).
•Sanctions must be linked to specific abuses, including the denial of education, forced marriage policies, and mobility restrictions, to reinforce legal consequences for gender apartheid practices.
6.4.2. Accountability through Universal Jurisdiction
Some states recognize universal jurisdiction for crimes against humanity. National courts (e.g., Germany’s higher regional courts) could prosecute Taliban officials for gender-based crimes, provided sufficient evidence and access to defendants (HRW, 2023).
6.5. Supporting Afghan Women’s Resistance and Civil Society
6.5.1. Protecting Underground Education Networks
Despite Taliban bans, underground schools for girls continue to operate in secret.
•Lauryn Oates (2023) emphasizes the importance of funding and protecting these covert education initiatives, which provide lifelines for girls and symbolic resistance against gender apartheid.
6.5.2. Digital Platforms and Safe Communication
Encrypted platforms and secure communication channels are essential for Afghan women’s digital activism and organizational resilience.
•Tech companies and civil society must collaborate to protect anonymity and ensure digital security, empowering women to mobilize, document abuses, and connect globally (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, 2023).
6.6. Advancing the Normative Recognition of Gender Apartheid in International Law
6.6.1. Formal Adoption of Gender Apartheid as an International Crime
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and Human Rights Council (UNHRC) must formally recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, initiating draft conventions and legal frameworks for enforcement.
•International campaigns, led by Equality Now, Amnesty International, and UN Women, have already proposed model legislation and advocacy platforms to push for norm development.
6.6.2. Mobilizing Regional Organizations
Regional bodies such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and SAARC should be mobilized to address gender apartheid within Islamic legal discourses, countering the Taliban’s theological justifications.
• Deniz Kandiyoti (2007) argues that gender justice in Muslim societies requires internal critique and regional leadership, not external imposition.
6.7. Reparation Mechanisms and Restorative Justice for Afghan Women
6.7.1. Truth and Reconciliation Initiatives
A future transitional justice process must include gender-specific truth commissions, ensuring women’s voices are central to narratives of past abuse and mechanisms for reconciliation.
•Models from South Africa and Rwanda offer precedents for gender-inclusive truth-telling, reparations, and social healing (Sooka, 2005).
6.7.2. Financial Reparations and Socioeconomic Support
Reparations must address economic disenfranchisement and psychological trauma.
•UN-administered funds could provide financial restitution, access to education, and psychosocial care for survivors of gender apartheid policies.
Conclusion
The return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in August 2021 has given rise to a political and social order defined by the systematic exclusion and subjugation of women. This research demonstrates that the policies enforced between 2021 and 2024 amount not only to widespread violations of women’s rights but to a deliberate and institutionalized system that fulfills the criteria of gender apartheid. This regime of oppression is enforced through legislative edicts, administrative structures, and social coercion that segregate, marginalize, and erase women from public life.
Drawing from feminist legal theories and international criminal law, this study contends that the current international legal framework is inadequate to address gender apartheid. The limitation of the Rome Statute to race-based apartheid reflects an outdated understanding of systemic oppression that must evolve to encompass gender-based regimes of exclusion. The evidence presented shows that the Taliban’s policies of gender segregation are not cultural practices nor isolated violations; they constitute a state policy of domination that institutionalizes discrimination and subordination on the basis of sex.
The international community’s failure to recognize and prosecute gender apartheid in Afghanistan reveals a deeper crisis in the global human rights regime. Without normative clarity, enforceable mechanisms, and political will, the universality of human rights remains aspirational rather than actionable. Recognizing gender apartheid as a crime against humanity is essential to restore accountability, protect future generations of Afghan women and girls, and affirm the foundational principle of equality at the core of international law.
This study calls for:
•The recognition of gender apartheid in international criminal law.
•The establishment of an ad hoc tribunal or the expansion of the ICC’s mandate.
•The implementation of targeted sanctions against Taliban leadership.
•Increased support for Afghan women’s civil society, both inside Afghanistan and in exile.
•The development of reparative justice mechanisms, including truth commissions and economic restitution for survivors.
Afghanistan’s crisis represents a pivotal test of the international community’s commitment to gender equality and human rights. Failure to act now risks normalizing gender apartheid as an acceptable form of governance and perpetuating cycles of impunity for gender-based crimes.
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John
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