The Taliban’s continued attacks on women and girls is a hazard for human rights around the world, the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Relations was told on Tuesday.
“The Taliban have set a new bar for the lowest that the world seems to be able to accept in terms of women’s rights and that is a threat to women’s rights globally,” said Heather Barr, associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch. “So, all of us have a stake in trying to have a more rigorous response to the crisis that is unfolding for the women and girls in Afghanistan.”
Referring to the research by Professor Karima Bennoune at the University of California at Davis, Barr urged the European Union to use the term “gender apartheid” when speaking about the situation of women in Afghanistan as it allows an appropriate response to such an apartheid state.
Holding a picture with faces of some of victims of the recent attack targeting Hazaras and girls’ education at the Kaaj education centre, Barr said, “I want us to reflect on this photo during this discussion, because it reflects the ongoing war on girls and women in Afghanistan, and the intersectional nature of that war. There is no peace in Afghanistan for women and girls, and even less so for women and girls who are targeted because factors such as their faith, ethnicity, or sexual orientation or gender identity.”
“The international response to the Taliban’s attack on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan today has been entirely inadequate. I want to ask you today to change that,” the associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch added.
“There is no other country systematically denying girls education based on gender – and denying women the right to work. There is no other country placing such restrictions on freedom of movement for women and girls – and without freedom of movement it is almost impossible to enjoy any of your rights,” Barr said, adding that gender-based violence has increased and women who protested the Taliban abuses “have been beaten, and pepper sprayed, and subjected to electric shock, and the shooting of live ammunition.”
“There is almost no monitoring of or accountability for these crimes. We hear reports every day of new abuses toward women and girls – and crimes including killings, abductions, attacks on Hazara and Shia communities, and attacks on LGBT people. But there are few means to verify these reports, and without full-scale verification and evidence collection there is no chance of bringing perpetrators to justice or deterring continuing violations,” she added.
Tomas Niklasson, the European Union’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, discussed the role of regional countries in addressing the situation of Afghanistan and the push for an inclusive government. As well, Andrew Watkins, representative of the United State Institute of Peace and Timor Sharan, executive director of Afghan Policy Lab, also shared their analysis and testimonies in the committee.
