Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy Responses

Nearly two years on from the Taliban’s takeover, diplomatic efforts have so far failed to anticipate or halt the unfolding regressive regime in Afghanistan. Feminist foreign policy approaches can guide both normative and practical efforts to protect and defend women’s fundamental rights in the country and support local actors to create alternative spaces for women’s and girls’ to reclaim their rights to education, employment, and political agency.

In this AFFPC issues paper, Dr. Farkhondeh Akbari and Professor Jacqui True make the case that governments employing a feminist foreign policy approach – as well as those who claim to prioritise gender equality – must use the term “gender apartheid” to signal their condemnation in the strongest terms. 

Review all publications in the Australian Feminist Foreign Policy Coalition Issues Paper Series on the AFFPC home page here.