Gender Apartheid: A Crime Against Humanity
Date and Time: 6 March, 14:00 for a 14:30 start. The event ends at 17:00.
Venue: Committee Room 4a, Houses of Parliament
As we prepare to mark International Women’s Day, we note with grave concern that gender apartheid in countries such as Afghanistan and Iran has been the subject of little international outcry. While we welcome the move by the International Criminal Court on 23 January 2025 to seek arrest warrants for Taliban leaders for the persecution of women, much more needs to be done.
These countries have seen some of the most egregious and all-encompassing state sponsored violations of the human rights of women: violations that depend on the use of systematic violence and terror to oppress, persecute and kill women in order to deny them equality and autonomy and exclude them in every field, including education, employment, health, public and political life and in the law and family.
The regimes of institutionalised gender apartheid in these countries have received none of the robust international legal and political responses that helped to end the unconscionable practice of racial apartheid that existed in South Africa. It is hard to escape the conclusion that, in the contemporary international world order, systemic discrimination based on sex does not appear to carry the same legal or political weight as systemic discrimination on the grounds of race.
Activists, judges, lawyers and artists will join together to show solidarity with the countless courageous women in Afghanistan, Iran and elsewhere who are demanding equality and rights at great risk of their lives and to call on the international community to fulfil its common legal responsibility to recognise gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.
The afternoon is chaired by Helena Kennedy KC. Panellists are actress Ariane Hejazi, former senior judge in the Supreme Court of Afghanistan and head of the Violence against Women Court Fawzia Amini, former Afghan civil judge Ferozan Easar Qasimi, One Law for All Spokesperson Maryam Namazie and Co-Founder of Project Resist Pragna Patel. There will also be a film screening The Red Suitcase (Short 2022, Academy Award Nominee) by Iranian Director Cyrus Neshvad, a Daf performance by percussionist Sara Fotros and music by Kurdish/Alevi singer Suna Alan.
For more information, contact genderapartheidevent@gmail.com.
The event is sponsored by the International Bar Association, One Law for All and Project Resist.
BIOGRAPHIES
Helena Kennedy LT KC is one of the country’s most distinguished lawyers. She is a member of the Bar, a King’s Counsel, a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and the Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. She was created a life peer in 1997 and has been a strong advocate for social justice and the rule of law in the House of Lords. She has recently been awarded the Order of the Thistle, the highest honour in Scotland. She is the Founder of the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights at Oxford in 2018. In 2021, when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, Baroness Kennedy evacuated 102 women judges and prosecutors who were on death lists (with their families so the total number was 508) by raising the funds, securing safe houses, chartering planes, and resettling the women around the world. She is currently working for the President of Ukraine on war crimes and trying to recover the thousands of children who have been abducted from Ukraine by Russian forces.
Ariane Hejazi is a British-Iranian actress raised in a family of Iranian political refugees and activists. Her body of work spans film, stage, and activism. She has starred in the award-winning short film RISE and the critically acclaimed feature Mitra, a powerful political drama set in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, directed by Kaweh Modiri. On stage, Ariane has performed in productions at esteemed venues such as the Orange Tree Theatre, The Bunker, and with the English Touring Theatre. Notably, she portrayed British-Iranian political prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in the powerful activist play Citizen, written and directed by Sepy Baghaei at The Space Theatre. Ariane refined her craft at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and The Drama Studio, establishing herself as a versatile and dynamic performer with a commitment to stories that resonate deeply with cultural and political significance.
Fawzia Amini held numerous positions in the Afghan government for more than two decades, including as head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Women Affairs. She later became a senior judge in the Supreme Court of Afghanistan and head of the Violence against Women Court. During her time in government, Judge Amini was a member of the drafting committee of the Elimination of Violence against Women Law, the Family Law, and regulations for protection centers for women at risk. She worked closely with the Ministry of Justice to review laws from a gender perspective and ensure the protection of women’s rights, and she conducted hundreds of capacity building trainings on legal issues linked to women’s rights. When the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021, Judge Amini was forced into hiding after receiving numerous threats against her life. With assistance from the International Bar Association, she and nearly 100 women judges were able to escape from the country. Upon her arrival to the United Kingdom, Judge Amini immediately turned her attention and energy to advocating for the protection and rescue of the women judges who remain in Afghanistan.
Ferozan Easar Qasimi is a distinguished former civil judge and holds a masters in criminal law and criminology with over a decade of experience specialising in civil, commercial and criminal law in Afghanistan. She worked as, and co-founded the Afghanistan Judges Association and served as a key member of the Afghanistan Women Judges Association’s Monitoring and Evaluation Committee. Ferozan has adjudicated on thousands of civil cases, mentored numerous legal professionals, written articles about women’s rights issues and upheld judicial integrity throughout her career. Since relocating to the UK in 2021, she has continued her advocacy for human rights, sharing her expertise at prestigious forums such as the UK Parliament and various law firms and barrister’s chambers. She is currently pursuing an LLM in Legal Studies. She remains dedicated to promoting justice and the rule of law globally.
Maryam Namazie is an Iranian-born campaigner and writer. She is Spokesperson of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All. Maryam has organised numerous actions, including #Hair4Freedom and #BodyRiot in support of women in Iran, executive produced Women Leaving Islam and published The Woman’s Quran. The Islamic regime of Iran’s media outlets have called Namazie ‘immoral, a harlot and corrupt.’ Maryam and the CEMB have been featured in a 2016 film ‘Islam’s Non-Believers.’ She was also a character in DV8 Physical Theatre ‘Can We Talk About This?’ She is winner of numerous awards, including 2017 Henry H. Zumach Freedom From Religious Fundamentalism award; 2016 International Laicite Prize from the Comité Laïcité République; the National Secular Society’s Secularist of the Year Award (2005). She is a key signatory of the global action to end gender apartheid in Iran and Afghanistan.
Pragna Patel is the co-founder and co-director of Project Resist, an organisation focused on the rights of black and minority women and girls in the UK. She is the former director of the Southall Black Sisters (SBS), an advocacy and campaigning centre. Over 40 years, she led SBS on some of its most important cases and campaigns on issues ranging from violence against women to religious fundamentalism. In 2011, she was listed in The Guardian’s Top 100 women and is the recipient of multiple awards including the Bob Hepple Award for contributions to equality in 2015, an honorary doctorate in law from Keele University in 2019, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Criminal Justice Alliance in 2023. Pragna has written extensively on race, gender and religion. She was also a founding member of Women Against Fundamentalism and is currently a member of Feminist Dissent.
Sara Fotros is a professional award-winning percussionist based in London. She has performed at the national and international levels with various ensembles in Iran, the UK, and globally. As a recording artist, she has been featured on numerous audio and visual projects for several popular contemporary and traditional bands, including Ajam, who were prominently selected by the BBC. In collaboration with Zanyar Hesami, Sara co-founded the Zagros Percussion Ensemble, working closely with their students to create and perform rhythmic compositions inspired by Kurdish, Persian, and fusion music. In 2008, she won first place in the Daf Player’s Competition held in Kurdistan Province, Iran, at the Sanandaj Daf Festival, solidifying her reputation as a master of her craft.
Suna Alan is a Kurdish Alevi singer based in London, whose artistry is deeply rooted in traditional Kurdish dengbêj (bard) music and shaped by the rich cultural diversity of her upbringing in Izmir, Turkey. While Kurdish folk songs are her primary focus, her repertoire extends to encompass Armenian, Greek, Arabic, Sephardic, and Turkish music. Suna was featured in the UK-based creative journalism platform Brush & Bow’s Women Role Models Project in 2018. She has graced prestigious stages such as the Southbank Centre, as part of the “Women in Music” concert series, and the Royal Albert Hall, performing with the Solidarity Ensemble to support earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria. In August 2024, she was the sole performer at the TEDxKings Parade St event in Cambridge, themed “TRANSFORMED.” Her involvement with SOAS University’s Kurdish Band and Rebetiko Band has further broadened her international presence. Suna’s music is a celebration of heritage, resilience, and the shared humanity that transcends cultural boundaries.
The Red Suitcase (Short 2022, Academy Award Nominee) by Iranian Director Cyrus Neshvad is a clear allegory of the relationship between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the country’s female populace, Neshvad’s film dials back the scale to bring us face to face with such injustice on an individual level, as seen through the eyes of an incredibly strong young woman fighting for her freedom.