Campaign calls for gender apartheid to be crime under international law

The letter notes that Afghan women, who are banned from education and government jobs, must abide by a strict dress code. Photograph: Omer Abrar/AFP/Getty Images

A prominent group of Afghan and Iranian women are backing a campaign calling for gender apartheid to be recognised as a crime under international law.

The campaign, launched on International Women’s Day, reflects a belief that the current laws covering discrimination against women do not capture the systematic nature of the policies imposed in Afghanistan and Iran to downgrade the status of women in society.