Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai urges Muslim leaders to treat gender apartheid as a crime

Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai attended a Summit on girls’ education in Muslim communities in her home country of Pakistan on Sunday. She urged Muslim leaders to start treating gender apartheid as a crime under international regulations.

Prominent international leaders and scholars attended the Summit in Islamabad. Malala also called on attendees to speak out against the Taliban in relation to the treatment of the female population of the country.

No foreign administration has formally recognised the Taliban since it took over Kabul some years ago. Diplomats stress that steps for formal recognition require a change of course. The Summit included dozens of ministers and scholars from Muslim-majority countries.

Malala Yousafzai asked the scholars to openly challenge and denounce the Taliban’s rules and for political leaders to support the addition of gender apartheid to crimes against humanity under international criminal regulations.

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