UK: Pressure Taliban Allies to Lift Restrictions on Women

DID Press: Baroness Helena Kennedy, a prominent women’s rights advocate and member of the UK House of Lords, has called on the British government to put pressure on countries such as India and Qatar that maintain contacts with the Taliban.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Kennedy said: “What is happening in Afghanistan is gender apartheid, and the restrictions on women are extremely severe.”

She stressed that the UK should use its relations with countries that maintain contact with the Taliban leadership to push for changes in the situation facing women in Afghanistan.

Her remarks come as Afghanistan marks the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power, amid widespread criticism of the group’s policies toward women and girls and its broader record of repression.

The UK government has also previously said it is working with international partners to maintain pressure on the Taliban to reverse restrictions on Afghan women and girls.