Afghanistan - Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - LGBTIQ - May 2025
Country: Afghanistan
Partners: Afghanistan LGBTIQ+ Organization (ALO)
Issues: LGBTIQ+ Rights
Mechanism: UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Report Type: Shadow/Parallel Report
Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, lesbian, bisexual, transgender,
and queer (LBTQ) women have faced an unprecedented human rights crisis. The Taliban
has effectively erased women and girls from public life, banning them from secondary and
higher education and most employment1
. Within this gender apartheid, LBTQ women
experience compounded persecution. They are targeted not only by the Taliban’s “morality
law” but also by family and community members emboldened by the regime’s stance. This
report – submitted on behalf of the Afghanistan LGBTIQ+ Organization (ALO) and
The Advocates for Human Rights – documents the lived experiences of LBTQ women
under Taliban rule. It draws on survivor testimony to highlight abuses including public
floggings; torture; arbitrary detention; “honor” violence and killings; forced marriage; and
the total denial of access to education, work, and justice. These abuses violate
Afghanistan’s obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), notably Articles 1, 2, 5, and 12, as well as the
CEDAW Committee’s General Recommendations No. 28 (on non-discrimination and
intersectionality) and No. 33 (on women’s access to justice). The report concludes with
urgent recommendations, calling on the CEDAW Committee and international community
to address the life-threatening situation of LBTQ women in Afghanistan. The tone of this
submission is intentionally urgent and grounded in the voices of Afghan LBTQ women
themselves, whose resilience in the face of extreme human rights violations demands an
equally resolute response.
