Australia has launched an initiative with Canada, Germany and the Netherlands to “formally” condemn the Taliban’s violations of the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Afghanistan is a signatory to the UN human rights document that outlaws discrimination against women, yet the Taliban regime have enacted several local laws that are “erasing women from public life”, violating the CEDAW.
This “systematic gender discrimination” is most recently exemplified in the Taliban reinstating the “vice and virtue” law, forbidding women to bare their faces, bodies or voices in public.
In a joint international statement, 26 countries who are signatories to the CEDAW condemn the Taliban’s violation of the document, supporting Australia, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands in its “formal” condemnation of the oppressive regime.
Australia will join with Germany, Canada and the Netherlands to hold the Taliban to account for its violation of obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. pic.twitter.com/yrZM2YEsst
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) September 25, 2024
“Since the seizure of power by the Taliban de facto authorities, the women and girls of Afghanistan have been subjected to the most severe systematic human rights violations,” the international statement reads.
“As a result of these deliberate actions by the Taliban de facto authorities, the human rights of Afghan women and girls are being violated by public and private institutions. Afghan women and girls are being socially, politically, economically and legally marginalized.
Whilst many countries have “repeatedly urged” the Taliban to “comply with international law”, the group said in the statement that the situation in Afghanistan “has not improved – to the contrary it continues to worsen”.
For example, according to modelling from UN Women, banning Afghan girls from going to school has resulted in a 25 per cent increase in child marriage, and a 45 per cent increase in early childbirth.
“The women and girls of Afghanistan deserve nothing less than the full enjoyment of their human rights,” the statement reads.
“Afghan women themselves have shown courageous leadership in calling for accountability. We recognize their vital role and heed their call.”
Earlier this week, Hollywood legend Meryl Streep spoke out against the injustices women in Afghanistan are facing under the Taliban’s repressive regime.
“Today in Kabul a female cat has more freedom than a woman,” she said. “A cat may go sit on her front stoop and feel the sun on her face, she may chase a squirrel in the park.”
“A squirrel has more rights than a girl in Afghanistan today because the public parks have been closed to women and girls by the Taliban. A bird may sing in Kabul, but a girl may not in public.
“This is extraordinary. This is a suppression of the natural law.”
Streep was speaking alongside Afghan activists and human rights defenders at the “The Inclusion of Women in the Future of Afghanistan” meeting to raise awareness of Afghan women’s rights at the UN headquarters in New York.
Streep was joined by numerous key leaders working to urge the UN to protect and restore the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, including Asila Wardak, leader of the Women’s Forum on Afghanistan, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, Habiba Sarabi, former Minister for Women’s Affairs and Fawziya Koofi, former Deputy Speaker of Parliament.