Empowering Afghan Women for Global Justice: A Strategic Brainstorming Session
3/1/20251 min read
Empowering Afghan Women for Global Justice: A Strategic Brainstorming Session
On February 27, 2025, Massey College hosted a conference titled “Empowering Afghan Women for Global Justice: A Strategic Brainstorming Session.” The event brought together Afghan women leaders, Canadian policymakers, and international human rights advocates to discuss strategies for advancing justice and accountability for the women and girls of Afghanistan.
Held around the fifth anniversary of the Doha Agreement, the conference focused on the Taliban’s systematic oppression of Afghan women and girls, increasingly described by advocates and legal experts as gender apartheid.
Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Afghan women and girls have been subjected to more than 100 restrictive decrees, excluding them from education, employment, public spaces, and many aspects of social and civic life.
In response, Canada, together with Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands, has pursued international legal action to hold the Taliban accountable for violations of the rights of Afghan women and girls. The success of such efforts depends on the meaningful participation, knowledge, and lived experiences of Afghan women.
Narges Sadat, founder of the Afghan Women’s New Future Movement, participated in discussions on gender apartheid, international accountability for Taliban leaders, and the experiences of women activists and protesters who have endured imprisonment, torture, and persecution under Taliban rule.
The conference was especially significant for the Afghan Women’s New Future Movement, as it provided an important international platform to highlight the challenges facing Afghan women and girls and to emphasize the urgent need for concrete, coordinated action to protect their rights, dignity, and freedom.
Afghan Women’s New Future Movement