As we move towards the second anniversary of the extremists retaking power, this denial of education must be addressed <\/p>\n
Two years of ever-intensifying repression since the Taliban seized power<\/a> in August 2021 have not dimmed the resilience of girls and women in Afghanistan, who continue to risk their lives fighting for their right to an education <\/strong>and employment. But no one should be in any doubt that what Afghan girls are experiencing is not a temporary disruption. It is nothing less than \u201cgender apartheid\u201d, the chilling words used recently by the permanent representative of Afghanistan to the United Nations. Only a term as devastating as this can capture the grave violations of rights involved. It is time to declare it a crime against humanity, and the prosecutors of the international criminal court (ICC) should open an investigation into the repression ordained by the Taliban regime.<\/p>\n Even now, under fear of arrest, detention and torture for transgressing the Taliban\u2019s rights-violating edicts, brave children across Afghanistan are attending underground schools. A major initiative on internet learning in universities has also recently started, with support from the refugee agency UNHCR and the consortium Connected Learning in Crisis<\/a>. Many families have realised that the only chance of education for their daughters is through emigration. That still leaves an estimated 2.5 million<\/a> girls and young women with no education at all, and they will soon be joined by a further 3 million who are about to complete their primary education. Unable to move up to secondary school, yet another generation of Afghan girls will be denied a chance to realise their talents and fulfil their dreams.<\/p>\n