A United Nations expert has said the Taliban's treatment of Afghan women and girls could amount to gender apartheid, as Taliban authorities continue to undermine women's rights.

UN special rapporteur Richard Bennett was speaking at the Human Rights Council.

"Grave, systematic and institutionalized discrimination against women and girls is at the heart of Taliban ideology and rule, which also gives rise to concerns that they may be responsible for gender apartheid, a serious human rights violations which although not yet explicitly an international crime, requires further study," Bennett said.

The Taliban have imposed various restrictions since they seized power in August 2021. They curtailed women's rights, including their access to education.

In April, Taliban authorities began enforcing a ban on Afghan women working for the UN. They were already forbidden to work for NGO's.

"These serious deprivations of women's and girls' fundamental human rights and the harsh enforcement by the de facto authorities of their restrictive measures may constitute the crime against humanity of gender persecution," Bennett said.

A Taliban spokesperson dismissed Bennett's remarks as propaganda. He said Afghanistan follows Islamic laws, so objecting to them is stating a problem with Islam.