In many countries around the world, democracy is in retreat and authoritarianism on the rise. From shrinking civic space to the open persecution of dissidents, we are witnessing an erosion of democratic norms and institutions and the entrenchment of authoritarian rule. Nowhere is this more devastating than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s return to power has reversed hard-won democratic gains and plunged the nation into a terrifying abyss of oppression.
Afghanistan is not an isolated case but a warning: when the global community allows democracy to collapse in one country, it signals to every authoritarian regime that impunity is possible.
The collapse of democratic state-building in Afghanistan has had especially grave consequences for women. Since the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021, Afghan women have been excluded from education, employment, and nearly all forms of public life. The Taliban are pursuing a systematic campaign to silence, punish, and erase half the population in a system of gender apartheid. This is not simply a women’s rights issue. It is the erasure of one of democracy’s most essential pillars: equal representation and participation.
The Taliban are establishing a system of gender apartheid
The abduction and disappearance of courageous women like Parisa Azada, Neda Parwani, Zholia Parsi, and Manizha Seddiqare is a chilling reminder of the dangers faced by those who speak out. Their only so-called crime was raising their voices for the basic rights and freedoms that others in the world are free to enjoy. They have been released, not least because of intense international attention, but the disastrous plight of Afghan women, and the state of human rights more generally, has not changed. These cases are no exceptions. They reflect the unrestricted use of state violence to crush dissent and destroy hope. When enforced disappearances become a tool of governance, the state itself becomes a weapon against its people.
As a female member of the Afghan parliament now in exile, I carry the stories of my fellow Afghan women. Their despair, their resilience, and their refusal to surrender are with me every day. Our forced displacement is more than a personal tragedy. It is part of a broader crisis of democracy. When the voices of the oppressed are silenced, when elected representatives are exiled or imprisoned, when protest is punished by disappearance, democracy does not simply weaken. It collapses.
Afghan women, whether lawmakers, activists, or citizens, continue to resist this collapse at enormous personal risk. Their courage testifies to the enduring human desire for freedom and equality. But courage alone cannot halt authoritarianism. International mechanisms are needed to support democratic struggles wherever they take place.
The United Nations cannot ignore how democracy and human rights are interwoven
The United Nations cannot ignore how democracy and human rights are tightly interwoven. This is why the establishment of a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Democracy is critical. This role would go beyond being a symbolic gesture. It would be an important step toward recognising and protecting democracy as a global right that is a precondition and enabler for many others.
This mandate would not only be about overseeing and monitoring the state of democracy around the world. It would also be about acknowledging and responding to the cries for help from nations grappling with the erosion of democratic values and institutions or pursuing a path of democratization. A Special Rapporteur would not only monitor violations but serve as an early-warning mechanism, identifying patterns of repression before democratic collapse becomes irreversible.
When states fail and democracies fall, borders cannot contain the consequences. Refugee flows, extremism, and insecurity are the direct outcomes of ignoring democratic collapse.
At the Pakistan–Afghanistan disputed border, nearly two million Afghan refugees now face mass expulsion. These are not abstract figures. They are families, women, and children whose lives have been upended by repression and displacement. Their situation underscores the urgent need for global mechanisms that recognise how the breakdown of democracy, and of entire state structures, leads directly to major crises of human rights and security.
The UN needs to respond to the decline of democracy
A Special Rapporteur on Democracy would provide a formal platform to raise these issues at the international level. It would affirm that the international community does not merely observe the decline of democracy but responds to it.
If governments and international institutions are serious about standing with Afghan women, then they must act accordingly. One concrete step would be to send female representatives to engage directly with the Taliban. Let those responsible for excluding women be confronted by female counterparts. Let the dignity and determination of Afghan women be represented by women diplomats from around the world. Silencing Afghan women in negotiations about their own future legitimizes the Taliban’s gender apartheid. Representation is not symbolic, it is survival.
This would be a powerful expression of solidarity. It would also be a practical step toward ensuring that Afghan women are not once again made invisible in negotiations about their own future. It is not enough to speak of democracy and human rights. These principles must be practiced and protected.
The struggle for democracy in Afghanistan is not an isolated case. It is part of a larger global movement that demands a world in which every person is free to live without fear and where the rule of law prevails over the rule of force.
The appointment of a UN Special Rapporteur on Democracy would be a meaningful step toward making this vision real. It would affirm that democracy is a universal right that requires protection and would help identify best practices for how to implement it institutionally.
Afghanistan’s experience is a warning. It is also a test. History will remember those who stood with Afghan women and those who chose silence.
