Afghan women and girls

That this House deplores the systemic and violent subjugation of women and girls in Afghanistan by the Taliban, including the new penal code which was introduced in January and has effectively legalised domestic violence including sexual assault within marriages while also granting husbands explicit authority to discipline their wives for non-specified transgressions; notes the continuation of extensive restrictions on speech, education, working, and unaccompanied travel or movement in the public sphere; understands that this is described by the United Nations special rapporteur as amounting to a gender apartheid; acknowledges the Tirana Declaration agreed by Afghan female leaders in September 2024; further acknowledges the critical need to hold Taliban leaders accountable for human rights violations; and calls on the Government to reaffirm its commitment to Afghan women and girls throughout its diplomatic, international development and defence policies.