gender persecution

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Naseer Ahmed Faiq, Charge d'Affaires of the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan to the United Nations at his seat labeled Afghanistan as he makes an address.

A System Working: Five Years On, the Taliban Still Doesn’t Have a Seat at the U.N.

Five years after the fall of Kabul, the Taliban government still has not succeeded in achieving recognition at the United Nations.
A wide view of the high-level event on the inclusion of women in the future of Afghanistan.

For Women and Girls in Afghanistan, Now Is the Moment to Make CEDAW’s Promise Meaningful

If CEDAW fails in Afghanistan, at the very frontier of the violations it was designed to prevent, its protections risk collapsing into little more than paper promises.
A man in traditional Afghan garb of vest over tunic and loose, flowing trousers with long hair and beard and a small brown cap and sandals stands in profile holding a long, thin, curved stick and monitoring a line of Afghan women in blue burqas, robes or dark chadors. One woman holds open a red flowered umbrella. Two of the others, who are wearing blue burqas spotted with rainwater, huddle with each other in the center of the photo, their backs to the camera, in front of the other women.

Gender Apartheid and Public Opinion: Why Law Matters More Than Labels

The term "gender apartheid" doesn't appear to increase American support for Afghan women, but information that the Taliban's treatment violates international law does.
People attend a Trans Day of Visibility rally in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2025.

The Collateral Damage of Anti-Trans Policymaking

From healthcare bans to funding cuts, the consequences of hate-driven policymaking opposing transgender rights ripple broadly across communities.
Naija Raufi in a dark dress and a floral hijab stands at a balcony railing, overlooking the low- to medium-rise urban landscape of Athens, her back to the camera, alongside a young girl in a pink dress and pony tails in her dark hair.

I Was Afghanistan’s Attorney General. Here Is What Justice Looked Like — and What Destroyed It.

Afghanistan’s justice system took 20 years to build and 11 days to destroy. Former Attorney General Mohammad Farid Hamidi outlines the ongoing fight for accountability.
A wide view of the room shows Secretary-General António Guterres on a screen at left in the background, with curved rows of desks facing the screen in the photo's foreground.

What the Latest Session of the Commission on the Status of Women Reveals About Global Rights

CSW emphasized that women are at the forefront of combating global backsliding, and preserving their rights remains central to protecting rule of law and global stability.
Two Afghan women wearing, from left to right, a light blue and a darker blue burqa sit on the ground with baskets in front of them and what appears to be a more formal market stall behind them, in Mazar-i-Sharif on October 2, 2025. At the left of the photo next to the women is a wheelbarrow turned against a wall. (Photo by ATIF ARYAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Walls of Silence, Crumbling Futures: Why the World Must Act on Afghanistan

The credibility of the U.N.'s human rights framework depends on whether it can confront a systematic experiment in gender oppression with more than statements of alarm.
A Guatemalan woman touches a map of the United States

In Immigration Decision K-E-S-G-, a Break with Precedent Turns Back the Clock on Women’s Rights

A recent Board of Immigration Appeals ruling could seriously undermine protection for women fleeing fundamental human rights violations.
Police officers and medical team members gather at a cemetery in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on July 28, 2025, as they begin the exhumation of a girl's grave. Authorities order the exhumation to conduct a post-mortem examination and establish the cause of death following allegations that the girl was killed under orders from a jirga, an informal tribal court. Suspects are brought to the site for identification as part of the investigation. The incident has sparked public outcry and renewed scrutiny over the role of illegal jirgas, which continue to operate outside the formal legal system in parts of Pakistan. Human rights activists condemn the extrajudicial process and call for legal reforms and stronger protections for women. The case underscores the ongoing challenges of enforcing state law in rural and semi-urban areas where customary practices still hold sway. (Photo by RAJA IMRAN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

When Law Fails Women: Jirgas, Gender Violence, and the Collapse of International Accountability

When women are walked to their deaths with the world watching, international law must offer more than words. It must deliver protection with power.
In this picture taken on March 5, 2025, Afghan niqab-clad women walk along a street on the outskirts of Kabul. Since the Taliban came back to power in Kabul in August 2021, they have imposed broad restrictions on women based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Women have been squeezed out of public life in what the United Nations has labelled "gender apartheid." (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gender Apartheid Should Be an International Crime

All States should ensure the inclusion of gender apartheid in international law, including in the draft crimes against humanity treaty.
Taliban security personnel keep watch after the Eid al-Adha prayers at a checkpoint in Kabul on June 7, 2025. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

The Taliban’s Slow Dismantling of Afghan Media

The slow death of Afghan media is a tragedy not just for the many brave Afghan journalists, but for the country as a whole.
Posters are displayed on the ground during a rally in support of the Iranian people and the Women Life Freedom movement

Open-Source Information Provides Powerful Evidence of Gender Crimes in Iran and Beyond

Digital open source data can be ethically deployed to strengthen investigations and prosecutions on gender crimes in Iran and elsewhere.
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