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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.
People mourn at the morgue of Al-Awda hospital, in Nuseirat camp in central Gaza on June 20, 2025, after several Palestinians were killed as they reportedly headed to a food distribution centre in the war-stricken Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Cumulative Civilian Harm in Gaza: A Gendered View

For knowledge, accountability, and reparation we need to reconceive of the consequences of violence for Gazan civilians as composite, aggregate, collective, and layered harms.
A burqa-clad woman sits in a field where a special prayer for rain is being performed by Afghan Muslims, in Fayzabad district of Badakhshan Province on May 19, 2025.

Removing Protected Status for Afghans in the U.S. is No Way to Treat Allies

Contrary to the Department of Homeland Security's claims, evidence shows the situation in Afghanistan has not improved. Deporting allies is unjustified and a betrayal.
A doctor carries supplies to a small clinic in Madagascar.

Foreign Aid Cuts Compound Harmful Impact of US Reimposition of ‘Mexico City Policy’

Through a combination of aid cuts and the reimposition of the “Mexico City policy," conflict survivors are likely to lose access to life-saving assistance and other sexual and…
Afghan burqa-clad women walk past a Taliban security personnel along a street in Jalalabad

Suing the Taliban at the ICJ Over Abuses of Afghan Women Isn’t a Panacea. Countries Must Do More Now.

Beyond suing the Taliban and awaiting a potential ICJ case, the international community should meaningfully act on women's rights now.
Photograph of a hospital with Ukrainian lettering in blue across the entrance to the building.

New UN Guidance Calling for Restraints on Conscientious Objection to Abortion Care

UN guidance requires States to reconcile claims for religious accommodation with the impact that refusals to provide abortion care and other reproductive health services have on…
A concrete building in front of a blue sky, with the spray painted words "QUEER TRANS POWER"

On the Significance and Potential of a Non-Definition: The “Gender” Debate in the Draft Crimes Against Humanity Treaty

Leaving "gender" undefined may represent a groundbreaking opportunity to recognize gender-competent and intersectional feminist practice in international criminal law.
The photo shows the worker with something that looks like a broom in the shadows of a covered, exterior corridor.

Adding Gender to Apartheid in International Law: But Where?

Could discussions about the revival of the Apartheid Convention provide a basis for rethinking the approach to the codification of gender apartheid?
A helicopter hovers over lines of tan-colored Humvee-like military vehicles on a tarmac.

Three Years on From Taliban’s Takeover, What’s Next Amid Afghanistan’s Impasse?

Unfocused efforts to break the logjam over human rights and diplomatic recognition raise questions about how to move forward.
The women are wearing headscarves and sunglasses, and one appears to have a gauze eye patch on her left eye under the glasses. One sign they are holding say, "Save us. Don't ignore Afghanistan. Stand with Afghan women in danger." Another sign says, "The world must not forget us. Our voice must be heard. We are also humans like you. Please! Determine our fate."

Next UN Afghanistan Talks in Doha Must Hold Taliban to Account on Human Rights

The international community needs unity to press the group on its draconian repression of women and on rising terrorism risks such as ISIS-K.
Sheinbaum is shown standing apparently on a stage in a square with people behind her, her arms spread wide in victory and a broad smile on her face.

With Watershed Election, Claudia Sheinbaum Must Address Mexico’s Human Rights Crisis

Winning the most votes ever and controlling Congress and most state legislatures, the first woman to hold the office will have the power.
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