Nobel Peace Prize laureate and education advocate Malala Yousafzai has condemned the Taliban’s repressive policies against women and girls in Afghanistan, calling them “gender apartheid.” Speaking at a conference in Islamabad on January 12, 2025, Malala called on Muslim leaders to challenge the Taliban’s restrictions on education and employment for women, saying, “The Taliban do not treat women as human beings.”

Malala, who was shot by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012 for advocating for girls’ education, emphasized that the Taliban’s actions were not in line with Islam. She described their treatment of women as a violation of both human rights and Islamic values, including assaults, detentions and restrictions on education. The Taliban government, which did not respond to her comments, justified its policies through interpretations of Afghan culture and Islamic law.

After the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Afghanistan was the only country to ban secondary and higher education for girls, affecting more than 1.5 million girls. The Taliban’s promises to reopen schools for girls have yet to be fulfilled. Malala also highlighted other global challenges to girls’ education, including the crisis in Gaza, and called on leaders to condemn the worst violations of girls’ education rights in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Sudan.