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Since their return to power on August 15th 2021, the Taliban have issued over 13 formal decrees targeting the rights and freedoms of women. The rights of Afghan women to free movement, education, and employment are restricted. Their peaceful protests have continued to be attacked by the Taliban and woman protesters have been detained and tortured. Afghan women human rights defenders refer to this situation as gender apartheid.

In this panel discussion, we bring experts and Afghan women human rights defenders to evaluate the targeted violations of women's rights under the Taliban rule and initiate a conversation on global strategies to counter the Taliban’s structural discrimination against women.

Moderator:

Metra Mehran, Co-founder, Feminine Perspectives Campaign; and Non-Resident Fellow, NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs

Panelists:

Shahrazad Akbar, Woman Human Rights Activist and Former Chair of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission

Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women's Rights Division, Human Rights Watch

Karima Bennoune, Visiting Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School; and Former UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights

Azadah Raz Mohammad, Ph.D. Candidate, Melbourne Law School; and Human Rights Lawyer

Zarqa Yaftali, Director of Women & Children Legal Research Foundation; and board member of the Women's Regional Network