Following the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban takeover has led to the denial of the fundamental human rights of women and girls, among other marginalised groups. Just over a year later, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died in the custody of Iran’s ‘morality police’ after she was arrested for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly.

In both countries, women have been at the forefront of the protests that spilled out on the streets at great risk to their lives. Afghan and Iranian women have been met with violence, including killings and sexual violence. Evidence continues to surface of higher levels of brutality being committed against those with intersecting marginalised identities – including, notably, women from the Hazara and Kurdish communities in Afghanistan and Iran, respectively.

In this conversation, the speakers will reflect on both regimes’ long history of impunity, including for gender-based persecution and violence against women, and the ongoing violence today. They will seek to shed light on how the violence is impacting women and other marginalised groups, what justice could – or should – look like, and what the international community needs to do to support those who, once again, are under attack.