Women

Three decades after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, OMCT’s work underscored how deeply entrenched gender-based violence and discrimination remain, and how often they amount to torture or other ill-treatment. As the Global Torture Index shows, progress in areas such as access to abortion, the prohibition of forced sterilisation, and the reduction of practices like restraints during childbirth has been uneven and remains vulnerable to reversal.

At the same time, systematic failures persist, including inadequate responses to intimate partner violence, the targeting of women human rights defenders, the continued prevalence of forced marriage, and the lack of alternatives to detention for pregnant women and mothers. Against this background, OMCT translated those concerns into engagement with women affected by detention, women leaders shaping anti-torture standards and women-led initiatives in contexts of closed justice systems.

In a context where Afghan women have no access to formal justice, OMCT engaged in the People’s Tribunal for Women in Afghanistan, a survivor-centered initiative on documentation and accountability. Convened by Afghan and international civil society, the Tribunal provided a rare space for women and witnesses to testify to Taliban policies denying education, livelihoods and fundamental rights, legally characterised as gender persecution and inhuman treatment. This engagement formed part of our broader efforts calling for international accountability, which led to the establishment of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan by the Human Rights Council in October 2025.