Consolidating gender apartheid: five years on from the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan

Five years after the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, gender apartheid has been consolidated into a comprehensive system of political, social, economic and legal control that extends beyond the restrictions imposed during Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001. This gender-based system is enforced because it serves critical political functions for Taliban rule, bolstering both internal cohesion and ideological legitimacy. Using the framework of gendered multilevel games, we examine how gender apartheid has become the organising logic of Taliban governance and assess the role of diplomacy and humanitarian engagement in sustaining or challenging this system. While the de facto authority has institutionalised gender apartheid, international responses have vacillated between condemnation, engagement and accommodation, contributing to the consolidation of this system. Diplomatic engagement with a de facto regime that systematically excludes women from public and political life presents myriad dilemmas. The normalisation of gender apartheid has deepened the humanitarian and economic crises, intensified insecurity, and negatively impacted the stability of the region.