Taliban rule ‘made girlhood illegal’ in Afghanistan, Malala Yousafzai says
- The Nobel Prize winner says many are facing depression and turning to drugs and called for gender apartheid to be made a crime against humanity
- Access to education and work for girls and women has been severely restricted since the Taliban leaders took back power
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai said on Tuesday that Taliban rule in Afghanistan has made “girlhood illegal”, as she called for gender apartheid to be made a crime against humanity.
In a speech marking the 10th anniversary of the death of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, the Pakistani activist said: “The Taliban have made girlhood illegal, and it is taking a toll.”
She highlighted how Afghan girls frozen out of school are “experiencing depression”, “turning to narcotics” and “attempting suicide”.
Malala was the keynote speaker at an annual event held by the Mandela Foundation to commemorate the anti-apartheid icon and fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner.
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After slamming what she called the “unjust bombardment of Gaza” by Israel since the unprecedented October 7 attacks by Hamas, she said crises in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan had diverted attention from the treatment of women and girls in Afghanistan.
“Our first imperative is to call the regime in Afghanistan what it really is. It is a gender apartheid,” said Malala who was 15 when a Pakistani group shot her in the head over her campaign for girls’ education.
