British Parliamentarians Examine Gender Apartheid In Afghanistan & Iran
Author: Administrator
Date: January 26, 2024
Scroll down for: Call for Written Submissions Format.
British Parliamentarians Examine Gender Apartheid In Afghanistan & Iran
On January 8, 2024, a group of British Parliamentarians, led by prominent lawyer and Peer at the U.K. House of Lords, Baroness Helena Kennedy KC, launched an inquiry into the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran, the Gender Apartheid Inquiry (the Inquiry). The Inquiry, the first of this sort in the world, is set to consider the situation of women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan, assess the scale and nature of the situation and analyze it against the existing legal definitions of international crimes. It is further to explore the concept of “gender apartheid” and how it fits within the existing international legal framework.
Gender apartheid is not an international crime. Apartheid, as defined in the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid or the Rome Statute is defined around the issue of racial segregation and discrimination. Rome Statute defines apartheid as “inhumane acts of a character similar to those referred to [the Statute], committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime.” 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.” However, as many experts argue, the definition of gender persecution does not capture the nature of the oppression suffered by women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran.
Professor Karima Bennoune, the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, defines gender apartheid as “a system of governance, based on laws and/or policies, which imposes systematic segregation of women and men and may also systematically exclude women from public spaces and spheres.” As she explains, “gender apartheid is anathema to [the] foundational norms of international law, every bit as much as racial apartheid was to the analogous principles prohibiting race discrimination. Ultimately, as racial apartheid was for Black South Africans, gender apartheid is an erasure of the humanity of women. Every aspect of female existence is controlled and scrutinized.” Karima Bennoune concludes that “there is no escape from gender apartheid. The solution cannot be the departure of half the population of the country.”
………………………………………………………………….
Call for Written Submissions (genderapartheidinquiry.com)
Call for Written Submissions
On 8 January 2024, the Gender Apartheid Inquiry issued a call for written submissions.
Call for written submissions
The Inquiry invites anyone with relevant knowledge to submit written responses to the below questions. Please respond only to questions relating to your expertise or experience.
The responses are to be sent via email to Dr Ewelina Ochab: ewelina.ochab@int-bar.org.
The deadline for responses is 31 January 2024.
Questions
The situation of women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan
· What is the current situation? What are the main challenges or limitations? How are women and girls being denied access to public services, legal services, and other aspects of daily life?
· How has this situation been changing over recent years or months and why? Is it an escalating crisis?
· What is the future of women and girls in these countries?
Gender persecution and gender apartheid
· Can the situation of women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan be classified as gender persecution (as per Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute)?
· What is gender apartheid and how does it differ from gender persecution?
· Is gender apartheid better suited to describe the nature and severity of the situation of women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan?
· How could gender apartheid become an international crime, within the existing treaties or changes would need to be made?
Recommendations for States
· What is needed to help women and girls in Iran and Afghanistan in the short term and long term?
· What State responses, whether alone or in collaboration with others, should be undertaken?
Misc
· Are there any other countries where women and girls experience a similar situation as in Iran or Afghanistan or countries where there is a high risk that women would experience a similar situation?
· Any other comments?
18 views0 comments
Post not marked as liked
Comments
Write a comment…
genderapartheidinquiry
Categories: Featured, Slider Featured
