Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai<\/a> decried the state of women\u2019s rights in Afghanistan as \u201cgender apartheid\u201d on Sunday and urged Muslim leaders to speak out against the Taliban government\u2019s repressive policies on women and girls’ education<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSimply put, the Taliban in Afghanistan do not see women as human beings,\u201d she said, speaking in Islamabad at a summit on advancing girls\u2019 education in Islamic countries organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Muslim World League.<\/p>\n The Pakistani education activist added there was \u201cnothing Islamic\u201d about the government\u2019s policies<\/a>, which ban teenage girls from going to school beyond the sixth grade and women from attending university. <\/p>\n Yousafzai, 27, also urged the attendees, which included dozens of ministers and scholars from Muslim nations, to \u201copenly challenge and denounce\u201d the Taliban by recognizing gender apartheid as a crime against humanity under international criminal law.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn Afghanistan, an entire generation of girls will be robbed of its future,\u201d she said. \u201cAs Muslim leaders, now is the time to raise your voice, use your power.\u201d<\/p>\n Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bars women and girls \u2014 nearly 1.5 million Afghans \u2014 from accessing secondary and higher education. <\/p>\n Since it swept back to power in 2021, the Taliban has systematically stripped women and girls<\/a> of their fundamental rights by passing laws that restrict access<\/a> to education, work and freedoms of movement and speech. <\/p>\n In December, it banned women from training as midwives and nurses, effectively ending women\u2019s only available access to further education and putting women and children\u2019s lives at risk.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, it passed another order that prevents residential buildings from having windows where women can be seen while at home.<\/p>\n Afghan representatives did not attend the summit. <\/p>\n Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declined to comment, telling NBC News, \u201cWe don\u2019t want to comment on Malala Yousafzai\u2019s remarks about us.\u201d<\/p>\n The Taliban has stated that it will use its own interpretation of Afghan culture and Islamic law, known as Sharia, to guide its policies on women’s rights.<\/p>\n No foreign government has formally recognized the Taliban due to its restrictive stance<\/a> on women, while the United Nations has repeatedly denounced the government<\/a> and said that its oppressive conditions have amounted to \u201cgender apartheid\u201d in the country. <\/p>\n In September 2023, the international legal expert and civil society representative Karima Bennoune told the U.N. Security Council<\/a> that \u201cwhat has been tried since the Taliban returned to power is not working,\u201d urging the U.N. and the international community to wield all available measures to induce the Taliban to reverse its course.<\/p>\n She added that codifying the crime into international law would be one of the most effective ways to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Many](\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2025-01\/250113-malala-mb-0930-562fc4.jpg\")
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