Gender Apartheid
Time to end gender apartheid. Include it in the Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity Treaty at the UN, say Annie & Shabnam.
Happy Nowruz.
Happy Purim.
And an early Happy Easter. We’re off next week. We’ll be back on Friday, April 5. Because I won’t get to say it next week, big happy birthday to Parris.
Today, I’m thrilled that Interruptrr has its first op-ed submission. I’d love to make this a regular feature. If you have an op-ed idea, please write me on endeavoringe@gmail.com — Elmira
Following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, women in the country have been stripped of protections and rights, resulting in increased violence against women and human trafficking in the form of child and forced marriages. Before the Sixth Committee at the UN General Assembly is a new provision to a draft international treaty that holds the potential to address the abrogation of those rights and help reverse the situation for women.
The Treaty on Crimes Against Humanity would provide civilians additional protections, apart from war crimes and the crime of genocide, both of which already are enshrined in international law. Negotiators are currently working to recognize and add gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. Gender apartheid is the discrimination based on gender and sex, a relatively new concept.
It is long overdue. Just as the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid recognized racial apartheid as a crime under international law in 1974, it is vital to acknowledge that gender apartheid is unlawful. It holds the key to not only protecting women in Afghanistan, but to potentially bringing the Taliban government to international account.
Recent reports have shown that officials from the Taliban’s “Department for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” are implementing a compulsory hijab mandate through arbitrary and forceful arrest and detention of women. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has noted that many of those detained are then “subjected to physical violence, threats, and intimidation” at the hands of male relatives who are required to provide written assurance that they will comply with the “proper” dress code upon their release.
Afghanistan’s gender apartheid has also resulted in the increase of human trafficking. Facing economic devastation, both as a result of the Taliban’s international isolation and increasing environmental disasters, families have become desperate. Selling daughters, some as young as six, is one way to stave off starvation and survive.
Another consequence of gender apartheid in Afghanistan is the increase in maternal mortality. Unable to go out in public without a male chaperone, women and girls struggle to access all health care, including reproductive services.
Both the UN and the Taliban want to reintegrate Afghanistan into the world system, but the preconditions are notably different. The Taliban wants recognition as the legitimate government without changing its actions; however, a 2023 UN Special Assessment report made it clear that centering the women of Afghanistan is essential for normalization to occur. It noted that the Taliban must remove “restrictions on the rights of women and girls to education, employment, and freedom of movement.”
In January, a group of British Parliamentarians launched the Gender Apartheid Inquiry into the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran. It is the first such national inquiry in the world to consider gender apartheid in Afghanistan, seeking to assess the scale and nature of the situation and how this crime fits within the existing international legal framework. The United States and other nations that have adopted the Women, Peace, and Security agenda should also carry out a similar inquiry. Supporting a Women, Peace, and Security agenda has to be more than a hortatory gesture.
Similarly, the Taliban must recognize all of Afghanistan’s international treaty obligations. That includes the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
As Michigan Law School Professor Karima Bennoune has put it, “there is no escape from gender apartheid. The solution cannot be the departure of half the population of the country.” Like racial apartheid, it demands a principled response and consistent pressure on the perpetrating regime to change, and uphold international norms and standards of human rights. Clearly defining gender apartheid as a crime against humanity is a tangible and practical gesture that is needed right now. — Annie & Shabnam
Annie Pforzheimer is a former senior US Diplomat who served as Deputy Chief of Mission to the US Embassy in Kabul. She is a Non-Resident Associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Adjunct Professor at the City University of New York.
Shabnam Nasimi is a former senior policy adviser to the United Kingdom Minister for Refugees and Minister for Afghan Resettlement.
I’m opening up my column to others. Please pitch me your op-ed idea/perspective. Let’s get more female perspectives. Email me on endeavoringe@gmail.com or respond to this post.
Elsewhere in the World.....
On our radar...
Famine
Both Gaza and Sudan are on the verge of famine. When is famine declared? Lauren Potts outlines the institutional definitions and their consequences. (BBC)
The world’s leading authority on famine warns that famine in Gaza is imminent. Jaclyn Diaz reports. (NPR)
There are no female bylines here, but puts into sober perspective the famine that Palestinians face in Gaza. (PBS News Hour)
US
America is not happy. So says the recent World Happiness Report. The US slipped out of the top 20, to place 23rd. Yulia Talmazan on why the Yanks are feeling down. (NBC News)
In their great power rivalry, the US and China are using security relationships to compete for influence. The US offers external security, while China provides tools to combat social disorder and political opposition internally. This contest increases the risk of miscalculation, write Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Isaac Kardon. (Foreign Affairs)
Africa
Gambia is getting ready to overturn a ban on female genital mutilation. It would be the first country in the world to roll back such a protection. Rachel Chason and Ramatoulie Jawo look at the domestic politics driving it and the prospect that other countries will follow suit. (Washington Post)
After a delay, Senegal is heading to the polls on Sunday. Amy Niang on how incumbent President Macky Sall has sowed doubt into Senegal’s governance. (The Conversation)
Anta Babacar Ngom is a candidate in Senegal’s elections on Sunday. It is unlikely she will win. Still, as Jessica Donati and Babacar Dione note, she’s inspiring many and advancing a “decades-long campaign to achieve gender equality.” (AP)
Watch: Niger has kicked out the US military from the country. That’s a big deal, in a country and region where extremism is rampant. Idayat Hassan joined others to discuss why and the implications. (Al Jazeera)
Asia
The Beijing-controlled Hong Kong legislative council passed a law that punishes speech and activism and expands police powers. This new law will “usher Hong Kong into a new era of broad-based oppression,” says Elaine Pearson. (HRW)
One month before India’s presidential election starts (it is the world’s longest election by date, starting April 19 and ending in early June), opposition leader Rahul Gandhi heads to current Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat. Many experts expect the opposition party to face a rough road to the election, says Kiran Sharma. (Nikkei Asia)
If March 18th’s meeting between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul revealed anything, it’s that South Korea is cozying up with the US while being less and less invested in finding relative peace with North Korea. Le Nhu Mai gives us the rundown. (The Diplomat)
The Americas
Can the UN Security Council take action on Haiti? Damilola Banjo says it is working on it behind closed doors. (PassBlue)
Daniela Mohor provides an in-depth look at what’s happening in Haiti, including the transitional presidential council taking shape. (The New Humanitarian)
The lack of US gun control impacts beyond its own borders. Mexico sees a lot of arms coming into its country. The Mexican government is trying to put a stop to it via the courts. Mary Harris fills us in, with the help of Champe Barton, on who exactly is being sued and how the filing could proceed. (Slate)
So much for fixing the economic crisis. In Argentina, Javier Milei campaigned on reversing unsustainable economic policies. Several months into his tenure, poverty levels have risen to the highest in 20 years. Milei may have actually caused even worse financial hardship for a large number of his constituency, explain Carol Wise, Nicolás Saldías, Juan Santarcángelo, and Mario Rapoport. (The Dialogue)
Criminal organizations in Brazil are increasing their reach – growing and developing in a way that is influencing both the economy and politics. Constance Malleret weighs in. (WPR)
Europe
The presidential election in Russia this year felt “particularly farcical,” Marina Bocharova says. One month after Navalny’s death, Russian police continue to monitor Navalny’s database to track people who registered for the “Free Navalny” website. (Coda Story)
Crimean Tatars, an indigenous Muslim group, have been fighting Russia since 2014. Viktoriia Pokatilova reflects on Crimea’s 2014 annexation and tells the stories of Tatars who have joined the fight for Ukrainian liberation. (DW)
Slovakia heads to the polls tomorrow for presidential elections and the country risks moving further away from the West. Lili Bayer and Shaun Walker weigh in. (Guardian)
In a surprise move, Ireland’s prime minister, Leo Varadkar, announced his resignation on Wednesday. Niamh Kennedy and Sophie Tanno have the story. (CNN)
Also, in the UK, Vaughan Gething became first minister of Wales. He is the first Black person to hold a leadership position in the United Kingdom. With that, there are no white men running a UK government. (CBS News) We can only dream.
Middle East
New York Senator and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer criticized Israel’s government in Congress last week, noting that Prime Minister Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace and calling for the country to hold new elections. While we agree with him, unequivocally, it is problematic for a US official to make such comments. It’s not new, as the US has long interfered in the governance of other countries. And the fact that Netanyahu has done it to us, doesn’t excuse it.
Having failed to secure a ceasefire and get badly needed humanitarian aid to Palestinians, President Biden has deployed an “aid port” off the coast of Gaza. Could the situation change if Netanyahu is no longer Israel’s prime minister? Nomi Bar-Yaacov is optimistic about a post-Bibi Israel. (Chatham House)
Can you torture without remorse? Shereen Hindawi-Wyatt references Frantz Fanon to try to understand the trend of Israeli soldiers video-taping themselves looting Palestinian homes, paying specific attention to women’s lingerie drawers. Has 75 years of violent settler-occupation led to an increase in violence against Palestinian women? If so, where are the feminists? (Middle East Eye)
Science & Climate Change
A recent World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) report on Tuesday issued a “red alert” on global warming. WMO confirmed last year to be the warmest year on record, averaging 1.45 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial baseline. Miranda Nazzaro reports. (The Hill)
Technology
Scientists are noticing that AI image generators have pretty extreme racial biases, but they aren’t sure about a solution. Ananya fills us in on their dilemmas. (Nature)
We’ve all heard about the dangers of AI. What can governments do about it? Marietje Schaake and Steven Schuurman on how governments must learn from past mistakes and actively shape the future of these new technologies. (Project Syndicate)
Under the Radar
“It is no coincidence that the same organization that struggles to recognize and address the needs of Black and brown people internally struggles to create humane policies towards similar groups externally,” writes Jenny Abamu. She resigned from the US Foreign Service, noting that the State Department has a toxic work culture for people of color. (Fortune)
Trans and non-binary youth are some of the most vulnerable in the world, and in the US, they are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers because of the rejection and discrimination they face. Young Nex Benedict’s recent death shook the US LGBTQ+ community, and Stacie Freudenberg reminds us that these deaths could be prevented by efforts to eradicate stigma and hatred. (USA Today)
Opportunities
In DC, Radio Free Asia is hiring for an Executive Editor.
In DC. at the Atlantic Council, apply to be the Assistant Director, GeoEconomics Center.
In NYC, the Malala Fund is hiring for a Co-Founder Voice and Communication Director.
Editorial Team
Elmira Bayrasli - Editor-in-Chief
Editors:
Pin-Shan Lai
Catherine Lovizio
Emily Smith
 |
|
 | A guest post by
|