Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Ordinary meeting
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FEMM European Parliament
Follow its sittings
Lina Gálvez
I have forgotten my glasses. That is the. Now I'm another person. Hello again. So it was really, really difficult for me to read without my glasses.
So fine. So we will vote later on. So first only if the change in the agenda is adopted or not.
Second, we will vote on the allocation of the opinion.
So it will be a full opinion as we decided a few months ago and it was approved by the CCC and the COP if we will do a full opinion and it will go to the chair that it will be yes or no. If approved, we do full opinion and we do not take a second vote that it will be a third vote in reality. If not approved, if we have said yes to changing the agenda and include the possibility of voting for to make an opinion in form of a letter, then we will have a third vote on opinion in form of a letter to go to the chair yes or no. Okay? Should I repeat once more?
So first, yeah, it's okay, everyone? Yeah? So before we start, we need we still need to go through the substitute.
So at the EPP, Rosa Estaràs will be replaced by Miriam Lexmann. I don't see Miriam Lexmann. Ah, yes, sorry about that. Arba Kokalari will be replaced by Michał Wawrykiewicz. Sorry, Wawrykiewicz.
And this one I will make it very good. And Ewa Kopacz will be replaced by Elżbieta Łukacijewska. This one I, I...
And Elisabeth Vossenberg-Brionidi will be replaced by Michalis Hadjipantela. That's... no. Yes. Okay. And then Maria Walsh will be replaced by Georgios Autias.
Yes, perfect. And then S&D, Gabriela Firea will be replaced by Cecilia Strada. Heléne Fritzon by Sofie Eriksson. Alessandra Moretti by Matthias Nemec. Ah yes, there.
Maria Noichl by Elisabeth Grossmann. Yes. And Emma Rafowicz by Hanna Jaloulo Muro.
In Patriots we have Mathilde Androuët replaced by Mélanie Disdier. Thank you. And Sebastian Kruis replaced by Séverine Verbruggen. Yeah. Then ECR Assita Kanko replaced by Jessica van Leuven.
And Laurence Trochu replaced by Bert-Jan Ruissen. Okay. In Renew Vice-Chair Salimas replaced by Jana Toom. And in Greens no replacement. And in The Left Elena Kountoura by Hanna Gedin.
Okay, everything fine. So now we vote on the addition of the agenda proposed by EPP. So, show of hands. So, who is in favor? Who is against?
Abstentions? So, I think we have to check, sorry about that. Open the vote. Close the vote. And it is rejected.
So, now we move to the vote as it is, as it was. So, yeah, so now, yes, we have to vote on the allocation. Just to, we agree on the allocation of the, no, sorry, we agree on having an opinion and now we need to agree if the allocation of the FEMM opinion, so to do an opinion on the human rights and democracy in the world and the European Union's policy on the matter annual report 2023, it is going to the chair. If yes, vote yes. If no, vote no.
So, in favor? Against? Abstentions? I think we have to check again. Sorry about that.
Is one person still to vote? Well, just close the vote. And it's rejected.
So we don't do the opinion on the human rights. No, no, no, please. This is not the moment to discuss. Sorry. This is not the moment to discuss.
And this is not the moment to discuss. That's the problem we have normally in coordinators. So why we have translated to the committee, but we have not solved in the committee.
So let's go to the, to the other opinion. So this is again an opinion on boosting skills in the Union, opportunities for vocational education and training in times of transition. So again, do you agree, I will, I will do an electronic vote because it's very equal, so for me it's impossible absolutely to know who is voting what. So do you agree with the allocation of this opinion to the, to the chair? The vote is open.
No, we did not vote to that. I mean, we, we did not approve that.
So the vote is open. Yes, it's a full opinion. So the vote is closed. It will be the same problem. And now it's adopted.
So we will do an opinion on this one, but not in human rights. So we'll proceed with the votes.
So we will start now the vote in three files. First one on gender inequalities in health, specifically as regard gender specific conditions. The second one on establishing the Agora EU program for the period 2028-2034. And the third one on establishing the European Social Fund as a part of national and regional partnership plans set out in regulation. Okay, so let me...
Yeah, we start the gender inequality. These are the three we have to... Sorry? So the rapporteur is not here.
Normally we would give the floor, but so we start by... So we start by compromise 16. Who is in favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise 17. Who is in favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise 18 by roll-call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 19 by roll-call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 20 by roll-call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 21, who is in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 22, who is in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 23, who is in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 24, who is in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Compromise 25 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 26 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 27, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Compromise 28, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Compromise 29: in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 30: in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 31 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 32, I open, by roll-call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 33 by roll-call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 34 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 35 by roll-call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 36 by roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 37 by roll call vote.
I open the vote. No, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, the inertia. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise 38. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise 39. Who is in favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise 40, this one yes, by roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 41 by roll call vote.
I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 189, who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions? Rejected.
189. And what I say, six? I said dyslexia. Yeah, okay. Yeah, it was rejected.
So we move to 194, who is in favor?
Who is against? Abstentions? Rejected. 260, amendment 260. Who is in favor?
I amendment 260. 2-6-0. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions?
I have to check this one. I open the vote. 2-6-0. I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 279.
Who is in favor?
Who is against? Abstentions? Rejected. Amendment 324. Who is in favor?
Okay, okay, I wait. 3-2-4. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions?
Rejected. Compromise 1. Who is in favor? I wait. Compromise 1.
Okay, everyone's okay? Compromise 1, who's in favor? Who's against? Abstentions? Adopted.
Amendment 33, who's in favor? Who's against? Abstentions? Rejected. Compromise 2, who's in favor?
Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise 3, who's in favor? Against?
Abstentions?
So let's because... Compromise three, who's in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted.
Compromise four, who's in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise five, who's in favor?
Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise six, who's in favor? Against?
Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise seven, who's in favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise eight by roll-call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote. Adopted.
Compromise nine, who's in favor? Who's against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise ten, who's in favor?
Against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise eleven, who's in favor? Against?
Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise twelve by roll-call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it is adopted. Compromise 13, who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions adopted.
Compromise 14 by roll-call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote. And it is adopted. Compromise 15, who is in favor?
Who is against? Abstentions adopted. Amendment 43, who is in favor? Against? Abstentions rejected.
Amendment 45, who is in favor? Against? Abstentions. I have to check this one.
I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is rejected. Amendment 46, who's in favor? Who's against? Abstentions, rejected. Amendment 48, who's in favor?
Who's against? Abstentions, rejected. Amendment 85, who's in favor? 85, who's in favor? Against?
Abstentions, rejected. Amendment 88, who's in favor? Against? Abstentions, rejected. Amendment 89, who's in favor?
Against? Abstentions, rejected. Amendment 90, who's in favor? Against? Abstentions, rejected.
Amendment 171, who's in favor? 171. Who's in favor? Against? Abstentions, rejected.
And then we go to the final vote by roll call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Congratulations. So we move to the following file, which is establishing the EU4Health program for the period 2021-2027.
Speaker 4
Quienes suscribimos esta opinión minoritaria reconocemos la importancia de mejorar los resultados sanitarios de las mujeres y de abordar las condiciones médicas específicas ligadas al sexo. Sin embargo, el texto final va mucho más allá de los objetivos legítimos. En lugar de centrarse en la atención sanitaria basada en la evidencia y en las lagunas existentes en la investigación y en la mejor diagnóstico y tratamiento de las enfermedades que afectan a las mujeres, el informe promueve repetidamente conceptos ideológicos, entre ellos la identidad de género o la interseccionalidad y numerosas referencias a los derechos sexuales y reproductivos.
El informe también pretende promover el aborto como objetivo de política pública a nivel de la Unión Europea y presenta el acceso al aborto como un componente fundamental de la asistencia sanitaria, pese a que las cuestiones éticas y familiares siguen siendo competencias de los Estados miembros. Asimismo, reclama una actuación de la Unión Europea en ámbitos en los que debe respetarse el principio de subsidiariedad, incluidos la educación, la organización de los sistemas sanitarios y la política social. Además, el informe impulsa sistemáticamente la transversalización de la perspectiva de género en las políticas sanitarias, amplía el papel de las agencias de la Unión Europea y de las organizaciones activistas e introduce conceptos que carecen de una base jurídica clara en los tratados.
Quienes suscribimos esta opinión minoritaria apoyamos una mayor investigación médica sobre la salud de las mujeres, un mejor diagnóstico de las afecciones específicas femeninas, un mayor apoyo de las madres, las mujeres embarazadas y los pacientes que padecen enfermedades crónicas. Sin embargo, rechazamos la orientación ideológica de este informe y los repetidos intentos de utilizar la política sanitaria para promover agendas sociales y políticas controvertidas. Gracias.
Lina Gálvez
Thank you. So now we go to the Agora EU voting. So we start by amendment 52 by roll-call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted.
We move to compromise 14. In favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted.
Compromise 8. In favor? Against? Abstentions? I have to check this one.
I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is rejected. Compromise nine in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Compromise ten in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Compromise eleven in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Amendment 220 in favor, against, abstentions rejected.
Compromise twelve in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Compromise thirteen in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Compromise fifteen in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Compromise sixteen in favor, against, abstentions adopted.
Amendment 78, in favor, against, abstentions, rejected. Compromise 1, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 2 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 3, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Compromise 4 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 5, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 6, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 7, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Amendment 81 in favor, against, abstentions rejected. Amendment 121 in favor, against, abstentions rejected. Amendment 130 in favor, against, abstentions rejected. Amendment 137 in favor, against, abstentions rejected. Amendment 139 in favor, against, abstentions rejected.
Amendment 161 in favor, against, abstentions rejected. And now we go to the final vote by roll call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Congratulations and then we move to the final file we will be voting today which is the European Social Fund. So we start by compromise 1, who is in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Amendment 160, who is in favor, against, abstentions rejected.
Amendment 161, who is in favor, against, abstentions rejected. Compromise 2 by roll-call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it is adopted. Then we move to amendment 159 by roll-call vote in two parts. We vote first part one. I open the vote.
I close the vote. And it is rejected. Now we move to compromise three. Who is in favor? Who is against?
Abstentions? Adopted. Amendment 174.
Who is in favor? Against? Abstentions adopted. Compromise five by roll call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise six by roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 156.
Who is in favor?
Who is against? Abstentions? I need to check this one because you have not... So I open the vote. I close the vote.
It's clearly adopted, but since you did not raise your hand, I couldn't know. Compromise seven. In favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Compromise eight. In favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Amendment 189. In favor? Against? Abstentions?
Rejected. Amendment 19 by roll-call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Now we move to amendment 21 by roll-call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is rejected. Compromise nine: in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Amendment 29: who is in favor, who is against, abstentions, rejected. Compromise 10: who is in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Amendment 37: who is in favor, who is against, abstentions... I need to check this one.
I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 11, who's in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Amendment 44, who's in favor, who's against, abstentions, adopted. Amendment 45 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is rejected.
Amendment 46, who's in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Amendment 47, who's in favor, against, abstentions, rejected. Compromise 12, in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Amendment 53 by roll-call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is rejected. Amendment 56 in favor, against, abstentions, I try again. So, in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Compromise 13, who is in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Amendment 61, who is in favor, against, abstentions adopted.
Compromise 14, who is in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Amendment 68, who is in favor, against, abstentions adopted. Amendment 66, who is in favor, against, abstentions rejected. Amendment 69 by roll-call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is rejected. So we move to amendment 70. Who's in favor? Against? Abstentions?
I had to check. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. No? Yes.
And amendment 71. Who's in favor? Against? Abstentions? Adopted.
I'm sorry, rejected. Sorry, sorry, sorry, rejected. Yeah, 72. I was still thinking on the numbers of the previous one. Amendment 72.
Who's in favor? Who's against? Abstentions? Adopted. Compromise 15 by roll-call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 76. There is a split vote. We vote part one of four.
Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions? Adopted. Part two of amendment 76.
Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions? I think I need to check this one. I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Part three of amendment 76. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions adopted.
Part four. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions adopted. Compromise 16 by roll call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 17. Who is in favor? Who is against?
Abstentions adopted. Amendment 91. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions.
I think it is rejected but I would like to check.
I open the vote. Amendment 91. Amendment 91. I close the vote and it is rejected. Amendment 89.
Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions adopted. 89. Is it okay or you want...?
Amendment 90. In favor? Against? Abstentions rejected. Compromise 18 by roll call vote.
I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 103. In favor? Against?
Abstentions? Rejected. Compromise 19 by roll-call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted.
There's someone that is very slow.
Is someone that is very slow, so please the one that is very slow is making me wait for for for him or her and we are taking a bit longer than than than expected. Compromise 20 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. So I I close the vote, sorry I can't wait. It's adopted. Amendment 115: in favor, against, abstentions, rejected.
Amendment 116: in favor, against, abstentions, rejected. Compromise 21: in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Compromise 22 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote. Well done now. And it is adopted. Amendment 125 in favor, against, abstentions, adopted.
Amendment 126 in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 23 in favor, against... Compromise 23 in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Compromise 24 by roll-call vote, I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 130. In favor? Against? Abstentions?
Adopted. Amendment 129. In favor? Against? Abstentions?
I need to check this one. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 131. In favor?
Against? Abstentions? Rejected. And Amendment 132 by roll-call vote. I open the vote.
I close the vote and it is adopted. Compromise 25 by roll-call vote, I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Amendment 136, who is in favor, who is against, abstentions, rejected. Amendment 135, who is in favor, against, abstentions, rejected.
Amendment 137, who is in favor, against, abstentions, rejected. Amendment 138, who is in favor, against, abstentions, adopted. Amendment 139, who is in favor, against, abstentions, rejected.
Compromise 26, who is in favor? Against? Abstentions adopted. Amendment 142, who is in favor? Who is against?
Abstentions rejected. Amendment 146, who is in favor? Against? Abstentions. I need to check this one.
I open the vote. It's amendment 146. I close the vote and it is rejected. Amendment 147, who is in favor? Who is against?
Abstentions rejected. Let's check.
I think there were too much... So yeah, I open the vote. 147. I close the vote. And it is adopted.
Amendment 148. Who is in favor? Who is against? Abstentions? I think it is rejected, but since it's more or less, I open the vote.
Sorry about that. I close the vote and yes, it is rejected. Amendment 149, in favor? Against? Abstentions?
It's rejected because it's the same as the previous one. And we go to the final vote by roll call vote. I open the vote. I close the vote and it is adopted. Congratulations.
We've finalized the vote. Okay. We make a break of three minutes to... Ah, so sorry, I was too fast. So there we will make a break of 15 minutes.
Okay, hello again. We're one minute still to 4:00, but well, let's start. So, thank you for being here.
We move now to point seven in our agenda, which is a public hearing on gender oppression and violations of women's rights, the case of Iranian women as well as Kurdish women and gender apartheid. We have here a very special present. Normally, obviously, it's not that we receive many presents, but this one is a kind of present for the committee. And they are, that will be explained later on, but these are official documents from the Taliban. And then we have this box, United Against Gender Apartheid, a global call for justice, accountability, and the recognition of gender apartheid as a violation of international law.
Shukria Barakzai.
Here, justice must prevail. There can be no legitimacy without equality, no recognition without rights, and no normalization without justice. And finally, United Against Gender Oppression, no woman or girl should be denied her rights, her voice, or her future because of her gender.
So, thank you. Thank you very much. And we will keep it treasure. I don't know, probably we need it to put it on the corner, otherwise I will not have space for the agenda, but it will be in the middle of our table.
So, thank you very much, as I was saying, to come to this hearing where we will explore through a human rights and gender justice lens the legal, political, social, and cultural structures that restrict women's freedoms and perpetuate discrimination, as well as the consequences of state repression following movements and protests advocating for gender equality and women's rights.
In the last few years, the European Parliament has repeatedly condemned the systematic violations of women's rights in Iran or Afghanistan, criticized policies and practices that infringe upon women's rights and freedoms. In this context, after the death of Mahsa Amini and the emergence of the Women Life Freedom movement, the Parliament has constantly condemned the violent repression of protesters in Iran, called for accountability for human rights violations and expressed its support for Iranian women human rights defenders and civil society activists. In 2023, the Parliament awarded the 2023 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Mahsa Amini and the Iranian Women Life and Freedom movement.
Concerning Afghanistan, the European Parliament has repeatedly denounced the Taliban's systemic exclusion of women and girls from public life and has characterized these policies as constituting gender persecution and increasingly gender apartheid. Through a series of resolutions, Parliament has called for the international recognition of gender apartheid as a legal concept capable of addressing institutionalized systems of gender-based oppression.
Also in our recommendation to the Council on the European Union priorities of the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the CSW, we emphasized the need to recognize gender apartheid as a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute and advocate for its international recognition in order to ensure access to justice, accountability, and the possibility of prosecution by international courts. I think now that there is a Taliban delegation coming to European Union, this hearing is very timely.
And so we have three experts with us, one is online. And the order will be first Ms. Petra Meram, then it will be Ms. Shukria Barakzai, and then Ms. Gino Victoria David. And I will be presenting each one of them. So remotely, and first to join us in this hearing, is Ms. Petra Meram, policy advisor for the End of Gender Apartheid campaign. So thank you for being with us, even if remotely, and you have the floor for seven minutes.
Thank you very much.
Thank you so much. I am good afternoon everyone. I'm honored to be here today. To be honest, this morning I faced a difficult dilemma.
Lina Gálvez
Just just one second because we are listening to you quite low. So if that's okay now?
Can you hear me now?
Petra Meram
No, it's fine. It's fine.
I was saying that to be honest, this morning I faced a difficult dilemma whether I should come and speak here at all. Like millions of women in Afghanistan and women across the world where we have protesting for the past weeks against European Parliament decision to invite Taliban members to EU, I am in a state of shock and betrayal how EU said no to constant resistance and protest against this decision. We all know the nature of the Taliban regime. It is a regime of gender apartheid and gender persecution that has systematically erased women and girls from public life and have stripped them of every right.
And European Parliament have rightly condemned these abuses through resolutions and statements. Yet Taliban representatives continue to be invited to European institutions and and raises a difficult, to be honest, but necessary question of at what point does engagement risk becoming complicity? And I and I want to ask and raise this question to everyone in this room of what is the measurement and if they it's not the EU is not speaking to the Taliban.
EU is in Afghanistan, EU has and European countries has its members in the technical groups of Doha format that continuously and regularly engage with the Taliban. So what is the need for them to come to EU and do you know how might they use this for their propaganda, for empowering themselves? So I want to ask this question again and that is at what point does engagement and these series of engagement risk becoming complicity, especially EU's in this level of gender persecution that Taliban or in gender apartheid that Taliban are perpetrating inside Afghanistan?
Because when perpetrators of gender apartheid are repeatedly given platforms at cost of voices of women of Afghanistan and people of Afghanistan while they struggle to be heard, for me the issue is no longer only one of diplomacy. It becomes an issue of moral and legal obligations and responsibility of EU and its members. So I stand here today again with that simple question.
And now I will briefly speak about why we call and should call and recognize the situation of women of Afghanistan as of gender apartheid. To be honest, I want to start by asking people in the room or asking you guys to imagine what you did this morning. I'm sure you woke up, you got your coffee, you chose what dress you want to wear.
You even maybe didn't think that you need to take the train or, you know, walk to the EU Parliament because you do it, it's normal, it's everyday. Maybe you shook hands with a colleague of yours. He saw your face, you talked, you're talking, you heard each other's voices. Very simple everyday things that you did today, a girl and a woman in Afghanistan cannot do it.
It's criminalized and it's a crime. Those simple things of freedom of movement, going to work, having the right to speak, because we are so entitled to these things and we should as human beings, but those are banned, controlled by Taliban in Afghanistan. And those in women of Afghanistan are stripped of those basic things, things that we maybe don't think that I'm walking to office, you know, it's a right that Taliban can control. So everything, to put it in perspective, I wanted to tell you that everything you did today and I did today is banned and criminalized for women in Afghanistan, even their voices and faces. And that's what we call gender apartheid.
And women of Afghanistan since 1996, first era of Taliban, have been calling for its recognition and codification. It's an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination. And why we say systematic and institutionalized?
We document the Taliban's decrees in legal systems through Afghanistan Justice Archive. They have issued more than 230 decrees so far that directly targets women and girls, including the PVPV law and their penal code that formalizes and legalize the oppression against women and girls. In those laws, especially the penal code of the Taliban, and I quote an absurd article that says if a husband beat the wife, as long as the bone is not broken and the skin bruise is not open to bleed, it's not a crime. And it officially authorize men as owner of the women.
And then we had the separation and divorce law that came last month, and it's legalize child marriage. So everything we see in Afghanistan, and it's not of a culture or religion, but it's a laws and legal policies of the Taliban being enforced across. And the other thing that we why we call it gender apartheid, in addition to the systematic and institutionalized nature of the the operation in the totalizing operation of Taliban inside Afghanistan is the intent.
And by that we we are studying and seeing how implementation and perpetration of gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan is both pragmatically and ideologically existential for the Taliban. Even if schools are banned for women and girls, but those that are open for men, the curriculum is changed to brainwash boys and men.
And we see how they are socially engineering the society in a way that be receptive of the Taliban regime, but also ensure its sustainability. So the Mohtasibeen, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue morality police, yes, they control women outside their houses. But we also see how legally men are pulled into enforcing those laws and decrees inside the house. By that I mean if it says if a woman is not dressed based on Taliban's favor, yes, she will be subject to punishment, but also the man of the family, if it's the brother, the father, is also subject to punishment. So we see how they bring men into enforcement of these policies too.
So there is nowhere that women can find peace and safety in Afghanistan, neither inside the house nor outside. So we see how everything in this totalizing system of oppression is forming a fully integrated and overarching framework that is necessary for the Taliban's sustainability. And that's why we say both the nature of it, which is systematic and institutionalized nature of the Taliban oppression, the animating context, and also the intention they're pursuing through this in Afghanistan form a regime of apartheid and that should be recognized as it is.
And I want to, because I have seven minutes and I can address questions...
Petra Meram
I want to say that we, I'm sure everyone in the room and we all know the level of the totalizing level of operation in Afghanistan. Everything from gender apartheid to gender persecution to slavery to child marriage to forced marriage to caste system, everything is legalized and formalized in Afghanistan by the Taliban. The laws that we as a global community get together to criminalize it.
So when history, and history has shown us that when injustice reaches this level in front of the law and governance system, we should act as a global community. And that's what I expect EU to do that too. Thank you.
Lina Gálvez
So thank you, but I would like to clarify something because I think it is, it is important. When I was saying before that it is very timely, this hearing, because indeed there is a Taliban delegation visiting the European Union. It is not an invitation from the European Parliament. I would like to be very clear about that. Otherwise it will be too hypocritical, but this is, well, we have a lot of contradictions among ourselves, that is for sure, but it will be probably too much.
So it is not, it is an invitation, but it is not even the Commission. It is the Commission, but following the initiative of 20 member states. They, they hold already a meeting at the beginning of this year in, in Kabul.
They held already a meeting at the beginning of this year in Istanbul, so this is following and this meeting it is a follow-up or a specific initiative, a specific question or initiative taken in a letter, especially led by Belgium and Germany and signed also by other countries as Austria, Italy, Netherlands and Poland, asking the Commission to start these technical meetings with the Taliban regarding irregular migration. So just to make very clear that the European Parliament has not been involved.
Obviously, we have voted several things regarding migration, but this is how democracy works. And unfortunately for me, my case, that I did not, but this is how it works. But this is something I do ask myself, not as a chair, I don't want to be misunderstood. But in any case, I wanted to make sure that there is no misunderstanding and the Parliament, the European Parliament has not invited any Taliban mission or delegation to Brussels.
Quite the opposite, we are holding this hearing. So sorry, because I wanted to make clear that there is no the European Parliament involvement in in in that. And now I would like to to give the floor to Ms. Shukria Barakzai, founder and president of the Afghan Women's Coalition for Justice.
She's an Afghan stateswoman, former parliamentarian and diplomat and served as a member of the Wolesi Jirga from 2005 to 2015 and as Afghanistan's ambassador to Norway from 2016 to 2019. And her contribution, we will hear her, will focus on the current situation of Afghan women. So thank you very much. So thank you very much also for that present that we will really treasure. And the floor is yours for seven minutes.
Thank you.
Shukria Barakzai
Thank you so much. Madam Chair, honorable member of the European Parliament, distinguished guest. Thank you for this opportunity. Today we are not discussing the rights of women in one country alone.
We are discussing a global challenge, the systematic oppression of women and girls simply because they are women. Across the world, women continue to pay the highest price of war, extremism, dictatorship, discrimination, and conflict. We see the suffering of women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. We see Iranian and Kurdish women confronting discrimination laws and state repression.
We see Palestinian women enduring the human... It's not really easy to represent because at the meantime I'm also having the privilege to be the vice president of World Liberty Congress where more than 60 country dissidents, freedom fighters come together and build that congress. And I have to be their voice too. We see Ukrainian women carrying the burden of conflict, displacement, family separation, violence, and the result from war.
We see women and girls in a part of Africa facing conflict, forced marriages, sexual violence, trafficking, exclusion from education and public life. While the women are denied equality, dignity, opportunity, security and freedom. Gender oppression is an accident? It is a system. And when that system is designed to exclude women from education, employment, political participation, public life and fundamental freedom, we must have courage to call this as a true name.
And the name is gender apartheid. Today Iranian women continue to challenge the discriminatory laws, compulsory restrictions imposed on them.
Kurdish women have to pay particularly highest price in their struggle for dignity, equality and freedom. We remember the Jina Mahsa Amini, a young woman whose death become a global symbol of resistance against gender oppression. We remember many more women and girls who have lost their lives, been imprisoned and displaced and silenced simply because they are women. Their rights has been denied. But their struggle is not confined borders.
It is universal struggle for justice and human dignity. Whether Kabul, Tehran, Gaza, Kyiv, Khartoum or elsewhere, women must never become the first victim of conflict, extremism, discrimination or political oppression.
I would like to present, as I did, the documents to European Parliament. They contain the Taliban own laws, decrees, regulations targeting women and girls, and I hope this document widely shared and presented as a part of historical record on the most systematic attack on women's rights in the modern history. But today, I also like to ask a question.
It's a difficult question. I'm asking you, all respected member of European Parliament. This is not my first time. I had this stage since 2002. My last visit was 2014, 2022, when I was here in European Parliament, September, when we discussed the gender apartheid and when the Parliament, when this Parliament adopt an important resolution in supporting Afghan women and accountability.
Almost two years later, what has changed? What concrete action have been followed those resolutions? What progress has been made towards recognizing gender apartheid under international law?
And why are some government internationally, international actor still normalizing their relation with the regimes and systematically where they systematically violating the rights of human and the rights of women. Why are dictator and extremist and the Taliban still being treated as a legitimate partner while millions of women remain deprived of their most basic right. Too often religion, culture, tradition are being weaponized to justify discrimination, exclusion and oppression. Human rights are universal. Women's rights are universal.
No government should allowed to hide behind culture or religion or deny women and their humanity. Today I respectfully ask European Parliament and European Union and its member state to move beyond statement and expressing of concern. The words are important but the words alone are no longer enough. We need measurable action, we need accountability.
We need consequence of those responsible for gender oppression. We need protection for women human rights defender and political prisoner. And we need a clear commitment that Europe will not normalize relation with regime that institutionalize gender discrimination against women. The history will not judge us by resolution we adopt. The history will judge us by action we take.
Lina Gálvez
Thank you. Thank you indeed, and so why we keep pushing with this hearing and because yes, what we, I insist, was a movement from member states, we are co-legislators, but it is not the European Parliament, so just to insist once more that we are so far on your side. So, so far and I hope for a long time. So now I would like to give the floor to Ms. Regina Victoria Doabi, who is here with us.
Thank you very much, Head of International Relations HIWA. Ms. Doabi is international political analyst specializing in Iran and Kurdistan and will focus on the current situation of Kurdish women. So thank you, thank you very much for being here with us and you have the floor for seven minutes too.
Regina Victoria Doabi
Thank you for having me. Chair, member of the European Parliament and the committee, thank you for having me. Today I would like to talk about Kurdish woman, because a Kurdish woman is never just a woman. She carries many identities at once.
First she's a woman, then she's Kurdish. And she belongs to a people whose language has been banned, whose identity has been denied and whose existence has been criminalized.
Kurdish women are targeted not only because they are women, but because they stand at the intersection of gender apartheid, ethnic and national discrimination, and political oppression. Just like Zhina Modares Gorji from Sanandaj and Mahsa Zarif from Kermanshah, who both are right now under massive pressure not only because they are women, but because they insist on their Kurdish identity. In Rojhelat, Eastern Kurdistan in Iran, discrimination and erasure of the Kurdish woman start at the birth for girls, where mothers struggle simply to register their children's names. Kurdish girls grow up without the right to be educated in their own mother tongue. As they grow older, barriers to higher education, employment, and participation in the society become increasingly entrenched.
Generation after generation, discrimination and oppression are institutionalized through the policies of Islamic Republic of Iran, and girls and women learn to roleplay an identity imposed by this state. The same discriminatory system also enables child marriages, forced marriages and femicide in Iran and Kurdistan. These are not isolated tragedies, but the consequences of laws, institutions and patriarchal structure that have been entrenched for over a hundred years. Where violence against women is enabled.
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