This summer marked a historic milestone for the movement to legally recognize gender apartheid as a
crime under international law. This effort is a key priority for our organizations; we see it as an urgently
needed step to strengthen women's rights and gender justice globally.
On June 3, 2026, the first round of formal proposals for amendments to the draft United Nations crimes
against humanity treaty was released. These submissions-together with the existing state interventions
before the UN General Assembly Sixth (Legal) Committee-will form the baseline for the treaty
negotiations starting in January 2028. For the addition of gender apartheid to be part of the negotiations,
it was important that at least one state propose its inclusion; in fact, multiple states did.
As part of a growing civil society coalition advocating for the inclusion of gender apartheid in the new
crimes against humanity treaty, we commend the leadership of countries from across four regions,
including Australia, Spain, and Uruguay, who proposed the inclusion in their national capacity, and
Iceland, Mexico, and Timor-Leste, who submitted a joint proposal on gender apartheid. These
countries put forward a definition of gender apartheid as "inhumane acts … committed in the context
of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one gender group over any
other gender group or groups, and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime." Together
with prior state interventions on the crimes against humanity treaty, there are now 14 countries that
have publicly expressed support for making gender apartheid an international crime.
In the months and years ahead, governments will debate how and whether to include gender apartheid
as a crime within the proposed treaty. Decisions made during this period could shape international law
for generations. We urge all other countries committed to women's rights and gender justice to join
the coalition of states leading on this effort.
We also call on states to ensure that those experiencing deliberate, institutionalized, and systematic
gender-based oppression remain at the center of the conversation. As the governments of Iceland,
Mexico, and Timor-Leste stated in their joint proposal, "[t]he imperative to enumerate gender apartheid
emanates from the decades-long leadership of the women of Afghanistan," who have called on the
international community to recognize that the term gender apartheid "most accurately describes the
totality of the distinct and transgenerational harms committed against them."
April 30 was just the first deadline for proposals on the treaty. Leading up to the 2028 and 2029
negotiations, countries should join the groundswell of support, in solidarity with the women of
Afghanistan and as a safeguard against the repetition of such systematic oppression elsewhere. We
encourage countries from all regions to formally submit proposals to the treaty process recognizing
gender apartheid as an enumerated crime. Upholding women's rights everywhere requires no less.
