Kabul, Feb 27 (.) Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has called on the international community to formally recognise what he termed “gender apartheid” in Afghanistan, stating that under the Taliban, women are facing systematic and institutionalised restrictions in society.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, Turk said that the Islamist group’s recent decrees have entrenched a structure of gender-based exclusion that has come to define nearly every aspect of public life in Afghanistan.
He argued that the scale and consistency of the measures amount to more than isolated violations, instead constituting a formalised system of oppression that warrants legal recognition under international law.
Turk said that clear definitions of gender apartheid, backed by robust accountability mechanisms, are essential if the international community is to respond effectively. Without such clarity, he warned, efforts to protect Afghan women and girls risk remaining fragmented and insufficient.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have barred women from secondary and higher education, restricted access to employment across multiple sectors and imposed strict limitations on movement through mandatory male guardianship.
Additional restrictions have greatly limited women’s participation in civic life, their access to public spaces and dress regulations tightened even further, almost fully isolating them from society.
Noting that the overall impact of these measures extends beyond exclusion from education and work, Turk warned that this style of institutionalised discrimination has greatly increased women’s vulnerability to domestic violence, restricts access to justice and undermines the rights of children as well as women.
He also expressed concern over escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, noting reports of civilian casualties and broader humanitarian consequences amid the ongoing cross-border confrontations. Regional instability, he said, further threatens the already very fragile humanitarian situation inside Afghanistan.
Turk warned that without sustained international scrutiny and concrete legal and diplomatic measures, systemic abuses are likely to deepen, leaving millions of Afghan women and girls exposed to continued discrimination and hardship. . . .