After the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, the government imposed strict gender segregation in public, reducing women’s visibility and freedom. This talk highlights how Afghan women promote positive peace in a challenging environment for women’s rights. It also explores international law on gender and the right to peace, discussing strategies for using legal frameworks to counter the Taliban’s regime of gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
Karima Bennoune is the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of Michigan. She specializes in public international law and international human rights law, including issues related to culture, extremism, and women’s human rights.
Part of the Kennedy Center's winter 2025 lecture series, “Building and Brokering Peace,” and the winter 2025 Global Women’s Studies Colloquium.