British Parliament Representatives Investigate 'Gender Apartheid' in Iran and Afghanistan

A group of British Parliament representatives has begun an investigation into the 'gender apartheid' faced by women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan. According to a report by Forbes, this investigation is said to be 'the first of its kind in the world' and will examine the concept of 'gender apartheid or segregation' and how it aligns with international legal frameworks. Forbes reports that gender apartheid is not recognized as an international crime, and the statutes of the 'International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid' or the Rome Statute only cover 'gender-based persecution' as crimes against humanity. Meanwhile, many experts argue that the definition of 'gender-based persecution' does not reflect the nature of oppression faced by women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran. Professor Karima Bennoune, a law professor at the University of Michigan, describes gender apartheid as 'a system of governance based on laws or policies that imposes the systematic segregation of women and men and may also systematically remove women from public spaces and spheres.' Bennoune explains that 'gender apartheid is antithetical to fundamental norms of international law' and adds that 'gender apartheid erases the humanity of women. Every aspect of a woman's existence is controlled and scrutinized.' However, this gender studies researcher states that despite the implementation of gender apartheid in Iran and Afghanistan, these 'regimes' will not be able to eliminate half of the population. Concurrently with the start of the 'gender apartheid investigations' in the British Parliament, thousands of Afghans held protests on Sunday, January 21, condemning the 'genocide of the Hazaras' and the detention of girls and women for their hijab by the Taliban government in Afghanistan, in dozens of cities around the world. In a joint statement, they called on the United Nations and countries worldwide not to engage with the Taliban and to condemn the 'genocide of the Hazaras' and 'gender apartheid' in Afghanistan. The expansion of gender apartheid in Iran, according to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who is currently imprisoned, has a 45-year history. In a message in December, in protest against the flogging of Roya Hashemati, an opponent of compulsory hijab, she referred to it as 'a depiction of the 45-year history of gender apartheid by the authoritarian regime on the bodies of proud and aware women.' Previously, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, presented a report to the General Assembly in November, stating that this report depicts the 'bitter reality' of human rights in Iran. In part of this report, he mentioned the expansion of sexual apartheid by the Iranian government and the status of women's rights, noting that those protesting against compulsory hijab, both women and men, have been arrested and sentenced to long prison terms, and 'Iranian women and girls are subjected to gender apartheid and discrimination, and ethnic minorities face discrimination and harassment.' Additionally, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in September that 'severe discrimination, organized and institutionalized actions against women and girls are at the heart of the Taliban's ideology and governance, which also raises concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid.' The United Nations still defines gender apartheid as 'economic and social discrimination against individuals based on sex or gender.' However, the Forbes report indicates that this issue, [the international crime designation of gender apartheid], has gained attention, especially as the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran continues to increase. Protests by Afghans residing in the U.S. against the massacre of Hazaras and the suppression of women by the Taliban. Narges Mohammadi praised Roya Hashemati's 'resistance'; the lashes that fell upon you were the lashes of tyranny upon the body of freedom. The UN General Assembly condemned the widespread human rights violations by the Islamic Republic by passing a resolution. Human Rights Watch: The Taliban has committed 'crimes against humanity' in Afghanistan. Britain sanctioned five officials of the Islamic Republic in relation to 'the enforcement of compulsory hijab.'