Criminalize gender apartheid
Petitioners ask Canada to criminalize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity, seek CEDAW/UN action, and impose Magnitsky and UN sanctions to protect Afghan rights. The government responds it pursues accountability through international mechanisms.
Why we would sign this petition
- Creates a clear legal basis for prosecution and deterrence by recognizing gender apartheid as an international crime, enabling coordinated accountability measures.
- Strengthens multilateral pressure by mobilizing CEDAW and UN mechanisms and enabling targeted sanctions, increasing leverage over regimes that abuse women's rights.
- Directs measures toward protecting Afghan women and girls and toward strategic initiatives to prepare for restoration of their rights when possible.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Defining a new international crime is legally complex and slow; existing instruments like the ICC and CEDAW mechanisms may already address gender-based persecution.
- Broad or poorly targeted sanctions risk unintended harm to civilians and could restrict humanitarian access, undermining protective aims.
- Canada acting alone may have limited impact; diplomatic engagement, targeted accountability and support for Afghan civil society may be more practical and effective.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada Whereas: The Taliban are pursuing a society where the subjugation of women and girls is normalized, leading to abuse, torture, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and executions. The Taliban have issued over 150 edicts that control women and girls in Afghanistan, with a significant increase in crimes and violence against them since August 2021. Sex and gender-based discrimination and persecution are violations of international law as stated under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court considers persecution on the grounds of gender as a crime against humanity. There is a consensus among human rights experts, Afghan women activists, scholars, and others that the Taliban's policies and behaviour constitute gender apartheid. Gender apartheid, like racial apartheid, must be recognized as an international crime, specifically a crime against humanity. Afghan women are calling for the codification of gender apartheid under international law. We, the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: Formally and publicly declare Canada's support of including gender apartheid as a crime against humanity in international law. Advocate within the CEDAW framework to define and criminalize gender apartheid. Collaborate with other UN member states to both pressure regimes practicing gender apartheid to reform and take every available measure to not condone, ignore, or be complicit in gender apartheid themselves. Sanction senior Taliban officials under Canada's Magnitsky Law and improve enforcement of existing UN sanctions against the Taliban and those supporting them. Take measures to protect the human rights of all Afghans during the current crisis. Identify strategic initiatives that will help prepare for a full restoration of Afghan rights in the future.
Government response
Response by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Rob Oliphant Canada remains deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan. The situation that Afghans are facing – particularly women and girls – is unacceptable. With every edict, the Taliban restrict even further women’s and girls’ access to fundamental aspects of public life, such as education, healthcare, employment, and participation in society. The exclusion of women and girls from public life is a collective blow to Afghanistan’s long-term development, economic growth and prosperity, and general stability. In light of this, Canada remains committed to maintaining a principled and coordinated approach that centers human rights, especially women’s and girls’ rights, in its engagement on Afghanistan. Canada remains actively engaged with partners, including civil society organizations and stakeholders to denounce the Taliban’s horrific and continuous violations of Afghan women’s and girls’ human rights, preserve and advance their rights, and call for a strong international response to these violations. Canada uses every opportunity to call on the Taliban to reverse all restrictions imposed on women and girls, condemning reported human rights violations in Afghanistan at the United Nations and other multilateral forums, both in its national capacity and jointly with its international partners. Canada also stands firmly behind the mandate of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, whose role Canada helped establish and strengthen. Canada actively participated in the recent discussions related to the Draft Articles on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity which took place in the context of the Legal Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. In this context and elsewhere, including the work of the United NationsWorking Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls, Canada continues to closely follow the ongoing discussions surrounding the concept of “gender apartheid,” which is not currently defined under international law, and welcomes hearing different perspectives on this matter. Canada strongly supports and prioritizes accountability efforts for human rights violations and atrocity crimes under the existing international legal framework. This includes the current investigation into the situation in Afghanistan by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. Canada respects the independence of the Office of the Prosecutor in the conduct of the investigation and notes that the Court issued arrest warrants against two Taliban leaders for the crime against humanity of persecution on gender grounds. Canada is also contributing $2 million to assist the Office of the Prosecutor’s Trust Fund for the enhancement of dedicated and specialised capacity with respect to investigations into crimes of sexual and gender-based violence and crimes against and affecting children. In addition, Canada, along with Australia, Germany and the Netherlands, formally took steps in September 2024 to hold Afghanistan accountable under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Afghanistan is a State Party to the Convention, and despite Taliban’s seizing of power, it remains legally bound to fulfill the obligations under the Convention related to the elimination of discrimination against women in all areas of life and the promotion of women’s equal rights. Canada has a robust sanctions and counter-terrorism framework in place to restrict the dealings with the Taliban, with three distinct regulations that serve overlapping domestic and international counter-terrorism objectives: the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolutions on Taliban, ISIL (Da’esh), and Al-Qaida, under the United Nations Act; the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolutions on the Suppression of Terrorism, also under the United Nations Act; and the terrorist entities list under Canada's Criminal Code, which includes both the Taliban and the Haqqani Network.