Petition to: Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand Winston Peter

It has been three years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.

Three years in which women and girls have lost their rights, their agency and their futures. Where once they could attend university or pursue a career, many women now spend much of their time isolated at home. It can be difficult for them to see a way forward, when so many girls can’t even complete a secondary education.

“These young girls just wanted to have a future, and now they don’t see any future ahead of them… There are millions of Afghan girls waiting for action.”
Fatima, a 25-year-old high school teacher based in Nangarhar province.

The world cannot let the suffering of women under the Taliban pass by unremarked. Your support is making their voices heard. Thanks to you, Amnesty International is able to release reports like ‘Death in Slow Motion: Women and Girls Under Taliban Rule’, which painted a vivid portrait of life since the Taliban takeover.

Reports like these serve the vital role of raising awareness about the oppression Afghan women and girls are living through. This is how we build support, this is how we build pressure on those in power. The evidence gathered in the report is a compelling argument for why Aotearoa New Zealand should play a strong role on the world stage–to prevent further abuses and urgently establish a robust accountability mechanism to hold the Taliban accountable for human rights abuses.

Together we’ve achieved a lot, but the mahi is far from done.

For each person from Afghanistan who has managed to get to safety, so many more remain behind. It is vitally important that as a community we continue to raise awareness by putting pressure on the New Zealand Government.

Take action by signing this petition today.

Together, let’s hold the Taliban responsible for their human rights abuses.