The protest tour of Afghan women under the motto "No to gender apartheid in Afghanistan" made a stop in Cologne on Tuesday. The participants met at the north side of Cologne's main railway station and organised a short protest march towards Roncalliplatz after a rally. They were supported by activists from the Kurdish Viyan Women's Council and Iranian women, who expressed their full solidarity with the women in Afghanistan.

On the occasion of International Women's Day, Afghan women are travelling from Berlin to Brussels from 5 to 8 March to draw attention to the increasingly difficult situation for women in Afghanistan and to demand support from politicians. With a kick-off event at the Brandenburg Gate, the participants of the protest tour began their journey on Sunday, which will lead them to the EU Parliament tomorrow. After the previous stages in Hamburg, Hanover and Cologne, numerous people are currently demonstrating for the Afghan women in Düsseldorf.

Since the handover of power to the Islamist terrorist group Taliban in August 2021, the latter has issued more than 60 decrees prohibiting women from attending secondary schools and universities, for example, and from working in public sectors and for NGOs. They are no longer allowed to visit public parks, play sports or move around the country without a male escort. Women are forced into forced marriages and child marriages by the Taliban. Women's rights activists are persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and abducted.

The demands highlighted by the participants of the protest tour from politics and the international community of values are as follows:

- The Taliban regime should not be recognised

- Sanctions should be imposed on all members

- The Taliban's political offices in Qatar should be blocked and their financial resources cut.

- There should be immunity for protesting women in Afghanistan.

- Work should be carried out towards the formation of a transitional government involving all sections of society.