JBI Appeal on International Women’s Day

A new JBI appeal published today to mark International Women's Day calls on governments to take renewed action to bring an end to severe discrimination and gender-based violence against women and girls around the world.

The appeal, which is available in full here, reflects on three situations:

Afghanistan, where the Taliban have imposed uniquely widespread and systematic institutionalized discrimination against women and girls amounting to gender persecution, a crime against humanity. JBI echoes calls by the UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan for governments to refuse to recognize the Taliban and avoid normalizing its rule;

Iran, where women and girls face severe and violent repression, epitomized by the security forces' use of patterns of rape and sexual violence to silence, deter, and punish "Woman, Life, Freedom" protesters documented in a report published today by the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, finding that senior officials bear responsibility for gender persecution; and

Israel, where women and girls experienced horrific violence, including sexual violence, during and following Hamas’s brutal attacks on October 7, 2023, denial of which has deepened the trauma many Israelis are experiencing. JBI welcomes the March 2024 report of the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict validating these claims and echoes her call for the immediate release of the hostages, still in Hamas' captivity, who remain at great risk. 

We urge all leaders to mark International Women’s Day by recognizing these situations and to call for more effective action to acknowledge and secure the rights of women and girls everywhere to equality, autonomy, and protection from violence.

Read the full statement here and below.