The International Criminal Court on Jan. 23 for the first time recognized LGBTQ people as victims of gender persecution under international criminal law.
Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, announced a request for arrest warrants against Taliban officials accused of targeting women and others perceived as defying the group’s strict gender norms in Afghanistan.
It is the first time LGBTQ people have been explicitly named as victims in a gender persecution case before the court. Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, there has been a significant escalation in the repression of LGBTQ people and women.
A report that Human Rights Watch released in 2022 documented nearly 60 cases of targeted violence against LGBTQ people in the months following the Taliban’s return to power.