A decision needs to be made.

In the five years since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan the situation for women and girls has continued to deteriorate at a rate outsiders will barely be able to conceive.

There are those in Australia who still work hand in hand with these women to try to bring them relief, hope, and assist them in their resistance. They receive phone calls at all hours of the night with desperate pleas for help. A woman has been detained for incorrect dress. Forced to marry someone four times her age. Disappeared after organising a protest. Killed herself rather than be taken by the Talibs. A widow has no money for school, for emergency healthcare, to pay to keep the power on.

In September 2024, the Governments of Australia, Canada, Germany and The Netherlands announced at the UN General Assembly they would take the Taliban to the International Court of Justice for breaches of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

It was expected proceedings would begin within six months, after the required period of arbitration. Many in civil society have been anxious about what has been happening in the interim. This author was giving grace to the authorities, presuming arbitration with a terrorist group, completely unwilling to even recognise women had rights, would be difficult.

There has been virtually no communication about the proceedings or progress. That is, until this week, when the Australian Government gathered a small group of civil society to discuss what they now call the ‘CEDAW Initiative’ for Afghanistan.

The delay could indeed be explained by troubles effectively communicating with the Taliban, that none of the involved governments recognise as the legitimate authorities in Afghanistan. However, the governments in question have not even begun the mandatory six-month arbitration period. For the past 2 years they have merely been trying to undertake good faith negotiations with the Taliban before beginning such arbitration.

This is not good enough.

Women in Afghanistan are dying, literally and emotionally, every day as a result of Taliban policies and practices.

One in two women in Afghanistan can now only leave the house twice a month. In 2025, less than 7% of women had jobs. Maternal mortality has fallen to an estimated 620 per 100,000 live births, making it one of the top ten worst countries to be a mother.

The hopelessness of the situation faced by Afghan women is pervasive. A study undertaken after the Taliban banned girl’s attendance at high school and university found 87% of participants exhibited symptoms of depression, and 49% exhibited suicidal thoughts.

Unlike elsewhere in the world, 80% of suicide attempts are by women. Women make up 95% of self-immolation cases in Afghanistan. Last year, a 20 year old woman from Ghor Province used petrol and firewood to set herself alight to save herself from a forced marriage to the brother of a local Talib.

Cases before the International Court of Justice take years. That is known. But the women of Afghanistan and their supporters cannot and should not have to wait years for such a case to even begin.

The decision to progress to arbitration needs to be made now. The case cannot move to court without arbitration, so we must move to take that step. We must take it now.