Australia set to take Taliban to court for gender discrimination – as Penny Wong erupts at the regime

Australia is calling for the Taliban to be held to account for its crackdown on the freedoms of Afghan women since they took control.

The country joins Canada, Germany and the Netherlands in leading the fight against the Taliban under an international convention on the elimination of discrimination against women, to which Afghanistan is a party.

The formal notification under the convention, supported by more than twenty countries, officially demands that the Taliban come to the negotiating table.

It is the first step before further action is taken, including proceedings before the International Court of Justice if the request is not resolved within six months.

Countries would not stand by and allow girls to be denied education and banned from speaking in public, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, as human rights in the Asian country deteriorate.

“The Taliban have shown disregard for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls in Afghanistan through a campaign of sustained and systematic oppression,” she said.

“We have heard the calls of Afghan women and we are determined to defend their human rights and amplify their voices.”

The formal notification under the convention, backed by more than twenty countries, officially demands that the Taliban come to the negotiating table (photo, women in Ghazni)