Abstract

This paper investigates whether the gender-based atrocities committed under Taliban rule in Afghanistan constitute cultural practices or crimes against humanity. Using a multidisciplinary approach—drawing from international human rights law, feminist theory, and ethnographic testimony—the paper evaluates Taliban policies such as education bans, mobility restrictions, forced confinement, and punitive violence against women. These practices are analyzed through the lens of gender-based persecution under Article 7 of the Rome Statute and the emerging legal category of gender apartheid. The paper argues that these acts, far from being legitimate cultural expressions, represent a systemic apparatus of gender oppression that meets the legal threshold for crimes against humanity. It challenges the cultural relativism often invoked to justify such policies and highlights the internal plurality within Afghan society, where many women and religious scholars reject the Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic and cultural norms. By centering the testimonies and resistance strategies of Afghan women—including underground education, digital activism, and transnational advocacy—the study emphasizes their role as active agents of change. It concludes by calling for the formal recognition of gender apartheid in international law, stronger ICC engagement, and policies that amplify Afghan women's voices in shaping global human rights frameworks. This research contributes to expanding legal accountability, ethical scholarship, and global feminist solidarity in confronting institutionalized gender-based violence under authoritarian regimes.

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