Latest news with #genderapartheid
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Female travel influencers spark backlash after 'glamourising' Taliban-run Afghanistan where women live under a 'gender apartheid'
It's been four years since the Taliban returned to power and began erasing women from public life in Afghanistan. But today, female travel influencers are gushing over their trips to Kabul despite Western countries strongly advising against travelling to a nation where the threat of terrorism and kidnapping is extremely high. A small but growing number of content creators have been showcasing footage of life in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover - sharing footage of the country's stunning landscapes and historic culture. But while their content intrigues followers, it has sparked fury for oversimplifying or even glamorising a nation where women live under a ' gender apartheid'. Just days ago, Aussie influencer Chloe Baradinsky came under fire after posting clips painting Afghanistan in a positive light. The 30-year-old is currently in the country and has been documenting her time there on social media. Although Chloe acknowledges the country's limitations in her videos, many have lambasted her for promoting travel to a place where women's rights are so severely restricted. The 30-year-old is currently in the country and has been documenting her time there on social media. . Video clips show Chloe touring striking mosques, visiting vibrant markets and feasting on local food @chloebaradinsky The consensus from what's been said to me here is that security wise, it's safer now that the war is over ie it's safe to drive on the roads at night now. Financially and for women, it's worse ♬ original sound - Chloe In one clip she talks to the camera saying: 'It's day five in Afghanistan and yesterday I was allowed to drive. Women aren't usually allowed to drive in Afghanistan. You rarely see a female driving. 'We went to the blue lakes. It's beautiful but women are sometimes allowed and sometimes not. 'It changes very quickly. Women definitely aren't allowed to swim. When we went it was 35 degrees and we just had to watch all of them swimming and that was obviously a classic example. 'That just goes to show and that's only five days here, imagine what it's like if you live here as a female'. She adds: 'Overall it has been an incredible experience, everyone we have met has been very kind to us and we feel safe.' In other videos Chloe can be seen touring striking mosques, visiting vibrant markets and feasting on local food. The UK Government advises: 'You should not travel to Afghanistan. The security situation is volatile. Travel throughout Afghanistan is extremely dangerous and border crossings may not be open. ' Since the Taliban took over the country there have been reports that Afghan women are being denied the opportunity to join the workforce, are not allowed to drive, and are deprived of their right to education. The militant group also recently claimed women should cover one eye stating that 'one eye is enough' under Sharia law - a harsh Islamic legal system which permits flogging and the death penalty in some circumstances. Meanwhile, officials have reportedly shut down beauty salons run by women in their homes and women's radio stations in various provinces, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. And, at one hospital, authorities ordered staff not to provide care to unaccompanied female patients. Chloe's videos have been met with fierce backlash - with viewers describing her behavior as 'disgraceful' and 'hideous' in the comments section. One person wrote: 'You do know Chloe that women's rights in Afghanistan are at a stage where it's been decided that women only need to see out of one eye and so will therefore be required to wear an eye patch under their burka. 'Hideous is what it is Chloe, do better.' Another asked: 'Why would you want to go somewhere that oppresses women?' A third said: 'And by traveling there, you are supporting this… not sure why you'd go while it's under Taliban rule. 'Officials have reportedly shut down beauty salons run by women. At one hospital, authorities ordered staff not to provide care to unaccompanied female patients.' A fourth added: 'What possessed you as a woman to want to visit a place where women are 'not allowed' to do things? Genuinely curious.' @margarittasworld They weren't voiceless. They were powerful in a way most never learn to see. Afghanistan changed me. This is for the women behind the veil. I love you. #femininefrequency #afghanistan #spiritwalker #presenceispower #womenoflight #veilwisdom #margarittasworld #afghan #kabul #fyp #foryou #travel #natgeo ♬ Kulning - Calling the Spring - Jonna Jinton 'Oh yeah going to a country where women are treated so badly for a week and then going back to your safe country. Lovely,' said someone else. Another questioned: 'why on earth would go and spend money in a country where women have zero rights now? that's actually disgraceful, especially as a woman.' But, although Chloe's footage received many negative remarks, some praised her content. 'This is amazing, loving these videos about these places of the world ,' one person said. Another added: 'As a Muslim girly I love how respectful you are and honest thank you… so much respect for you travelling without boundaries! A true travel vlogger.' Chloe isn't the only influencer to spark controversy by encouraging tourism to Afghanistan as a German TikToker also landed herself in hot water recently. Margaritta, 33, took a three-month solo trip in May 2024 to the country. She praised the Afghan way of life and said she felt safe and even powerful as a woman during her visit. While acknowledging that the Taliban had imposed strict laws on women, Margaritta, said she viewed them instead as a sign that 'women have value, and they are valued as precious.'. In one TikTok, she stated that women were the 'womb carriers,' which means 'any excellence a man demonstrates, he got from a woman near him.' Her comments were echoed by 31-year-old Zoe Stephens, a British travel vlogger and tour guide from Liverpool, England, who has visited Afghanistan three times. 'All we see of the women in Afghanistan is shapes behind burqas,' she told NBC News. 'But when I got there, I realized that ... there's a lot more nuance to it.' Having spent time with some Afghan women in their homes she added that much of this was not on video or photographed because 'it's very private.' Zoe regularly shares her experiences with over 70,000 followers on her Instagram accounts, @zoediscovers and @zoediscoversnk. In one of her posts, Zoe filmed laughing with local Afghan women as she explores lakes, mosques and mountain trails. In another she holds a selfie stick as she drives through the countryside on a tour bus. Internationally renowned Afghan activist and scholar Orzala Nemat, currently a visiting fellow at the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), said that the surge of foreign influencers in Afghanistan was deeply concerning. 'What we're seeing instead is a curated, sanitized version of the country that conveniently erases the brutal realities faced by Afghan women under Taliban rule,' Orzala told NBC News. Afghanistan has seen a recent travel boost, four years after Taliban forces captured the capital city of Kabul on August 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of American troops under the Biden administration. Deputy Minister of Tourism Qudratullah Jamal told The Associated Press (AP) that Afghanistan had nearly 9,000 foreign visitors last year — with 3,000 tourists in the first three months of this year. 'Tourism brings many benefits to a country,' he said. 'We have considered those benefits and aim for our nation to take full advantage of them.' United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organization director-general Audrey Azoulay told Fox News Digital in a statement that the Taliban has wiped out any gains for Afghan women. 'This exclusion of women from public life in Afghanistan has disastrous consequences for the country's long-term development,' she said.
The Guardian
09-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
ICC issues warrant for Taliban's supreme leader for persecution of women
The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for the persecution of women and girls. In a statement, the ICC said on Tuesday there were 'reasonable grounds to believe' the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and Afghanistan's chief justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, had ordered policies that deprived women and girls of 'education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion'. Afghan human rights activists have called for the Taliban's system of depriving women and girls of rights and freedoms and enforcing segregation to be recognised as gender apartheid. Tahera Nasiri, an Afghan women's rights activist now living in Canada, said the arrest warrant was an acknowledgment of the abuses Afghan women faced. 'For four years, the Taliban have told us to stay silent, stay at home, cover our faces, give up our education, our voices and our dreams. Now, an international court is saying: 'Enough. This is a crime.' 'Even if Akhundzada and Haqqani never sit in court, they now carry the mark of international criminals,' she said. 'They are no longer just leaders of Afghanistan, they are wanted men.' The court said the alleged crimes had taken place since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 until January 2025, when the ICC's chief prosecutor first sought the warrant. Since returning to power, the militant Islamists have banned women from paid work and girls from secondary education, as well as issuing a series of edicts that ban women from many areas of public life, including walking in parks and even speaking in public. Human rights groups have called on the international community to support the ICC in enforcing the arrest warrants. Liz Evenson, Human Rights Watch's international justice director, said: 'Senior Taliban leaders are now wanted men for their alleged persecution of women, girls, and gender non-conforming people.' In June, the UN accused the Taliban of removing legal protections for women and turning the justice system into a tool for entrenching an 'institutionalised system of gender oppression, persecution and domination'. The UN report also highlighted the suspension of a law on violence against women that included protections against rape and forced marriage. When announcing that he was seeking a warrant in January, the ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, said the two leaders were 'criminally responsible' for gender-based persecution in Afghanistan and that he would also be seeking warrants for the arrest of other Taliban leaders. 'Our commitment to pursue accountability for gender-based crimes, including gender persecution, remains an absolute priority,' he said. Amnesty International has also called on the international community to recognise gender apartheid as a crime under international law. Parwana Ibrahimkhail Nijrabi, a former Taliban prisoner now living in Germany, said: 'Arresting these men won't be easy, especially with some countries still engaging with the Taliban. But I hope member states of the ICC take this seriously and act to arrest them.'
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
ICC issues warrant for Taliban's supreme leader for persecution of women
The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for the persecution of women and girls. In a statement, the ICC said on Tuesday there were 'reasonable grounds to believe' the Taliban's supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, and Afghanistan's chief justice, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, had ordered policies that deprived women and girls of 'education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion'. Afghan human rights activists have called for the Taliban's system of depriving women and girls of rights and freedoms and enforcing segregation to be recognised as gender apartheid. Tahera Nasiri, an Afghan women's rights activist now living in Canada, said the arrest warrant was an acknowledgment of the abuses Afghan women faced. 'For four years, the Taliban have told us to stay silent, stay at home, cover our faces, give up our education, our voices and our dreams. Now, an international court is saying: 'Enough. This is a crime.' 'Even if Akhundzada and Haqqani never sit in court, they now carry the mark of international criminals,' she said. 'They are no longer just leaders of Afghanistan, they are wanted men.' The court said the alleged crimes had taken place since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 until January 2025, when the ICC's chief prosecutor first sought the warrant. Since returning to power, the militant Islamists have banned women from paid work and girls from secondary education, as well as issuing a series of edicts that ban women from many areas of public life, including walking in parks and even speaking in public. Human rights groups have called on the international community to support the ICC in enforcing the arrest warrants. Liz Evenson, Human Rights Watch's international justice director, said: 'Senior Taliban leaders are now wanted men for their alleged persecution of women, girls, and gender non-conforming people.' In June, the UN accused the Taliban of removing legal protections for women and turning the justice system into a tool for entrenching an 'institutionalised system of gender oppression, persecution and domination'. The UN report also highlighted the suspension of a law on violence against women that included protections against rape and forced marriage. When announcing that he was seeking a warrant in January, the ICC's chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, said the two leaders were 'criminally responsible' for gender-based persecution in Afghanistan and that he would also be seeking warrants for the arrest of other Taliban leaders. 'Our commitment to pursue accountability for gender-based crimes, including gender persecution, remains an absolute priority,' he said. Amnesty International has also called on the international community to recognise gender apartheid as a crime under international law. Parwana Ibrahimkhail Nijrabi, a former Taliban prisoner now living in Germany, said: 'Arresting these men won't be easy, especially with some countries still engaging with the Taliban. But I hope member states of the ICC take this seriously and act to arrest them.'
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
ICC Issues Arrest Warrants Against Taliban Leaders Over Gender Persecution
In this picture taken on February 20, 2025, an Afghan woman sews a burqa inside her house. Since the ... More Taliban authorities 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 credit: ATIF ARYAN/AFP via Getty Images) On July 8, 2025, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued warrants of arrest for Mr Haibatullah Akhundzada, Supreme Leader of the Taliban, and Mr Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Chief Justice of the Taliban, who have exercised de facto authority in Afghanistan at least from 15 August 2021. The ICC is the only permanent international criminal tribunal in existence. The decision to issue the arrest warrants came some six months after the Chief Prosecutor applied for them. The decision follows the litany of restrictions placed by the Taliban on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Women and girls are not allowed to get an education (apart from primary education). They are not allowed to work. They are not allowed to travel without mahram. Women are to veil in public at all times. They are not to be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. Women are not allowed to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage, and vice versa. Women are banned from attending public and private medical institutes in Afghanistan. The list goes on. The Taliban deprived women and girls of their fundamental rights and freedoms through decrees, edicts, and laws. These limitations have been documented by international bodies, experts, civil society representatives and victims/survivors themselves. Pre-Trial Chamber II further considered that other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban's policy on gender. Having considered the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan, the Chamber concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Haibatullah Akhundzada and Mr Abdul Hakim Haqqani have committed crime against humanity of persecution, under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute, on gender grounds against girls, women and other persons non-conforming with the Taliban's policy on gender, gender identity or expression; and on political grounds against persons perceived as 'allies of girls and women' and this by way of ordering, inducing or soliciting. These crimes are believed to have been committed on the territory of Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. Pre-Trial Chamber II considered that while the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender. The Chamber found that gender persecution encompasses not only direct acts of violence, but also systemic and institutionalized forms of harm, including the imposition of discriminatory societal norms. Because of the ever-present restrictions on the rights of women and girls, Richard Bennett, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, concluded that 'the cumulative effect of the Taliban's systematic discrimination against women raises concerns about the commission of international crimes.' He further indicated that 'the cumulative effect of the restrictions on women and girls (...) was tantamount to gender apartheid.' While currently, gender apartheid is not an international crime, Afghan women and international law experts are working on codifying it as an international crime. As gender apartheid is not currently a crime under the Rome Statute, the Pre-Trial Chamber II could not issue arrest warrants for it. This is why the Pre-Trial Chamber II focused on the closest crimes currently available - the crime of persecution as a crimes against humanity. The Rome Statute covers the crime of gender persecution as crimes against humanity with 'persecution' meaning 'the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to international law by reason of the identity of the group or collectivity' and 'gender' meaning 'the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society.' The above-summarized restrictions were imposed by the Taliban upon all women and girls. However, some women and girls would experience additional challenges in addition to those because of their gender. Among others, women from ethnic and minority communities face double vulnerability and are targeted because of their gender and because of their ethnic and/or religious identity. Among them, the Hazara women and girls have been specifically targeted because of their ethnic identity and because of their Shia religious identity. Similarly, women and girls with disabilities face additional discrimination and marginalization. This issue of intersectionality requires further urgent attention. In the case of Afghanistan, we see a clear example of gender persecution being also religious persecution - the Taliban impose an extreme interpretation of Islam upon the population and use it to suppress the rights of women and girls. In Afghanistan, anyone who does not conform to the interpretation of Islam prescribed by the Taliban is at risk. However, the situation of women and girls is particularly challenging, with women and girls being effectively removed from society. The Taliban has been using religion to justify the restrictions imposed upon women and girls. As such, the issue of religious persecution, in addition to gender persecution, requires attention. The Chamber has decided that the warrants will remain under seal at this stage, in order to protect victims and witnesses and safeguard the proceedings. However, the Chamber found that it is in the interests of justice to publicly disclose the existence of these warrants.
ABC News
14-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
The Taliban tried to stop Lida from employing Afghan women. She continues to do so covertly
Lida Mangal vividly remembers the "golden years" of her childhood in Afghanistan. "Life was full of joy in the small things," she said, before civil war forced her family to leave in search of safety. Decades on, Ms Mangal has found freedom in Australia — though her country of origin and the "very strong" women who remain there never leave her thoughts. So much so that she decided to employ as many as she could, more than 11,000 kilometres away. "It's a gender apartheid in Afghanistan now," she told the ABC. "I thought how could I provide a means of income to these women? They had experience in tailoring and textiles. Some were widowed or without a male companion … Afghan women deserve freedom." When the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, restrictions on women snowballed. No colourful garments could be worn. No education. No employment. Then came the silencing of women's voices. That same year, Ms Mangal founded her business, Ghan Fashion, where she brings traditionally designed dresses from Afghanistan to Australia. Initially, she was able to openly hire women who were still working in Afghan textile factories, but in recent years, the "barbaric regime's agenda" has made that effort extra difficult. Now it's all done far more covertly. "I've got 20 women who are working now from home, because of the restrictions of the current regime. They have their own materials and equipment they use. I explain my designs … and they prepare and make it," she said. A former refugee and now Australian citizen, Ms Mangal works full-time in a separate occupation, as well as running her fashion business from her Western Sydney home. The garment transportation process is a challenge — the Taliban use sharp tools to check packages for anything being smuggled out of Afghanistan, meaning some of Ms Mangal's dresses arrive ripped and damaged. "There's no other option; we have to accept the way it is," she said. "Every garment has a story. A short distance from Ms Mangal's business is another Afghan-centred enterprise. Kabul Social, founded by Plate It Forward director Shaun Christie-David, is run by a team of predominantly female refugees from Afghanistan, bringing their country's flavours to Sydney's CBD. It was predated by Colombo Social, which has the same intention of celebrating culture and cuisine while employing migrants and refugees. "Seeing skilled Afghan chefs … connect with customers, rebuild their lives, and thrive with job security is so rewarding." Mr Christie-David said his aim was to "give people a chance that wouldn't get one otherwise", given the challenges of having international qualifications recognised in Australia. Marjorie Tenchavez is the founder and director of Welcome Merchant, a social enterprise that elevates refugee and people seeking asylum entrepreneurs. "It's challenging, it's costly and time-consuming," she said of certifying overseas qualifications. "Often they [refugees] have family members relying on them in their home countries as well. Refugee merchants also don't have mainstream access to much support, such as borrowing from the banks, given many are on bridging visas." Language barriers, a lack of local experience, visa uncertainties, and housing insecurity are additional challenges. "It's now more important than ever to give them a platform because there has definitely been a waning interest in the refugee space." It's a pertinent conversation, considering celebrations are currently underway for Refugee Week, from June 15 to June 21. Adama Kamara, deputy chief executive officer of Refugee Council of Australia, said the event was a way to champion the resilient nature of many refugees. "Refugees are among Australia's most entrepreneurial newcomers … this incredible drive, often born out of necessity and a desire to contribute, adds significant economic and social value," she said. Later this year, the 1 millionth permanent refugee visa will be issued since Australia's post-war resettlement program began in 1947, according to the Refugee Council. "It's important we recognise the contributions to Australia made by people who were once refugees," Ms Kamara said. "It's a powerful antidote to negative stereotypes, showcasing refugees not as a burden, but as dynamic contributors."
