UN Side Event Highlights Calls for Accountability Over Taliban Policies and Afghan Women’s Rights

UN Side Event Highlights Calls for Accountability Over Taliban Policies and Afghan Women’s Rights
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Participants at a side event held during the United Nations General Assembly called for stronger international measures to hold the Taliban accountable over human rights concerns in Afghanistan, particularly restrictions affecting women and girls.

UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan Richard Bennett said the Taliban had crossed key international red lines through their continued restrictions on women’s rights, describing the situation faced by Afghan women as “gender apartheid,” a term also used by many rights advocates to describe systematic discrimination and exclusion.

Afghan human rights activists and diplomats at the event criticized what they viewed as insufficient international action and called for greater efforts to support an inclusive political system in Afghanistan.

Speakers urged the international community to strengthen legal and diplomatic mechanisms, document alleged rights violations, and ensure accountability for policies that restrict access to education, employment, and public life for Afghan women and girls. Restrictions imposed by the Taliban since returning to power in 2021 have included bans on secondary education for girls and university access for women, drawing widespread international criticism.