The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), One Law for All and Project Resist are hosting an event titled ‘Gender Apartheid: A Crime Against Humanity’ on Thursday 6 March 2025 from 1400–1700 GMT at the Houses of Parliament in London, United Kingdom. The organisers and speakers are joining countless courageous women to call on the international community to recognise gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.

The event will include a screening of the Academy Award nominated film The Red Suitcase (2022) by Iranian Director Cyrus Neshvad, a daf (Middle Eastern drum) performance by percussionist Sara Fotros and music by Kurdish/Alevi singer Suna Alan.

Taking place ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, the event aims to draw attention to gender apartheid, particularly in Afghanistan and Iran, where women are experiencing systemic violations of their human rights. Panellists will discuss the situation for women in these countries and call for a greater international response to put an end to gender apartheid.

IBAHRI Director Baroness Helena Kennedy LT KC commented: ‘We stand in solidarity with the incredibly brave women in Afghanistan, Iran and elsewhere who are standing up to their oppressors and the grave injustices they are facing daily. Systematic, state-sponsored violence and terror are being used to erase women from public life in these countries, but there has been very little political and legal pushback against this. The international community must act now to recognise gender apartheid for what it is – a crime against humanity which cannot be allowed to continue.’

Baroness Kennedy will chair the event, which will feature panellists from a range of backgrounds, including:

• Ariane Hejazi, British-Iranian actress raised in a family of Iranian political refugees and activists;
• Fawzia Amini, former senior judge in the Supreme Court of Afghanistan and head of the Violence against Women Court;
• Ferozan Easar Qasimi, Co-Founder of the Afghanistan Judges Association;
• Maryam Namazie, Iranian-born campaigner and writer; spokesperson of Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All;
• Pragna Patel, Co-Founder and Co-Director of Project Resist; founding member of Women Against Fundamentalism

ENDS

Contact: IBAHRI@int-bar.org or genderapartheidevent@gmail.com

Notes to the reader

1. Related material:
   • New Publication: The Gender Apartheid Inquiry Report into the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran
   • IBAHRI condemns the ‘Chastity and Hijab’ law in Iran and calls for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guard leadership

2. The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), established in 1995 under Founding Honorary President Nelson Mandela, is an autonomous and financially independent entity, working to promote, protect and enforce human rights under a just rule of law, and to preserve the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession worldwide.

3. Find the IBAHRI (@IBAHRI) on social media here:
   • x.com/IBAHRI
   • facebook.com/IBAhumanrights
   • linkedin.com/in/iba-human-rights-institute

4. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.

5. Find the IBA (@IBAnews) on social media here:
   • x.com/IBAnews
   • x.com/IBAevents
   • x.com/IBAHagueOffice
   • www.facebook.com/internationalbarassociation
   • www.linkedin.com/company/international-bar-association

Website page link for this news release:

Short link: www.tinyurl.com/bdd8m3m2
Full link: www.ibanet.org/IBAHRI-to-co-host-gender-apartheid-event-at-UK-Houses-of-Parliament