Gender Apartheid
Explainer
Gender apartheid refers to an institutionalised and systematic regime of discrimination, control and denial of rights based exclusively or primarily on gender (including gender identity or expression) and often compounded by other identities (such as race, ethnicity, religion, disability or sexual orientation).
It goes beyond individual acts of violence. It is a structured, pervasive system of domination by one gender group over another, with the aim of maintaining that dominance through legal, social, economic, and cultural mechanisms.
In practice, gender apartheid may involve the prohibition of education, employment, political participation for a gender group; severe restrictions on freedom of movement or association; enforced segregation in public life; and laws or policies that treat one gender group as inherently inferior or subject to control. For instance, rights-denying directives in contexts such as Afghanistan and Iran have been described by UN experts as forms of gender apartheid.
International human rights and atrocity law currently do not explicitly recognise “gender apartheid” as a standalone crime in many instruments but growing civil society and expert commentary argue for its codification as a crime against humanity.
WIGJ adopts a survivor-informed and intersectional approach, recognising how gender apartheid intersects with other axes of discrimination, and protecting not only women and girls, but also LGBTQI+ persons, persons with disabilities, Indigenous communities, and migrants who are targeted under regimes of gender-based exclusion or subjugation.
Why this matters
- Human impact: People subjected to gender apartheid lose not only rights to work, learn or move freely, but often also their dignity, autonomy, voice and place in community. Survivors’ agency, leadership and healing must be at the centre of justice seeking initiatives.
- ICL relevance: Recognising gender apartheid as a crime against humanity would give formal recognition to the crimes taking place under regimes such as those in Afghanistan and Iran, where women and girls are systematically denied fundamental freedoms. It would also respond to the calls of survivor activists and affected communities who have long urged the international community to name these violations for what they are: a form of apartheid grounded in gender.
- Systemic change: Addressing gender apartheid demands dismantling the structural systems of gender-based power and discrimination. Doing so strengthens legal and justice systems by making them responsive to not only individual acts of harm, but to pervasive, institutionalised regimes of rights denial.
What we do on Gender Apartheid
Legal Research & Analysis
In October 2023, we joined leading global legal advocates in submitting a joint legal brief to UN Member States urging the amendment of the Draft Crimes Against Humanity Convention to explicitly recognise gender apartheid.
Advocacy & Policy
Current objectives:
- Advocate for codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity in the upcoming UN treaty processes.
- Amplify the voices of survivor activists from gender-apartheid regimes (such as those in Afghanistan and Iran) in international forums.
- Strengthen accountability mechanisms, including documenting structural gender-based domination and exclusion for future prosecutions and reparations.
Recent/upcoming engagements:
- We delivered an intervention before the Dutch Senate Roundtable on Afghanistan on 19 June 2025, urging the codification of gender apartheid and amplifying the lived experiences of Afghan and Iranian women and girls.
- We monitor and support the work of the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan where prosecutors have indicted the Taliban for both gender persecution under the International Criminal Court statute and gender apartheid as an “other inhumane act”.
Solidarity & Network-Building
WIGJ stands in solidarity with Afghan and Iranian women’s rights defenders, survivor activists, and diaspora networks challenging regimes of gender-based domination.
We support and collaborate with groups involved in the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan and other survivor-led initiatives documenting and naming gender apartheid.
Our partnerships focus on amplifying survivor voices, ensuring safe participation, and connecting grassroots advocacy to international accountability forums, including UN and treaty processes. Together, we advance a shared feminist vision: that survivors define justice, and their experiences guide how the world responds to gender apartheid.
Impact highlights
- Support the campaign to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity led by Afghan activists.
- Advocate to integrate intersectional gender apartheid concerns (gender, ethnicity, race, migration, disability) into broader justice system reform conversations.
Subtopics
- Defining gender apartheid: concept, criteria and legal reasoning
- Gender apartheid in conflict, occupation and authoritarian regimes (e.g., Afghanistan, Iran)
- Intersectional gender apartheid: when gender oppression interacts with other identities (race, disability, migration, Indigeneity)
- Linking gender apartheid to existing legal frameworks: apartheid crime, persecution, crimes against humanity
- Prevention, protection, participation & redress in gender apartheid contexts
- Survivors’ participation and reparations in systems of gender-based subjugation
