The Netherlands is joining forces with Germany, Canada and Austria to take Afghanistan to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague if the Taliban does not act to improve women’s rights within six months.

The four countries’ foreign ministers made the announcement on the fridges of the United Nations general assembly in New York. It would be the first time the court is asked to rule on discrimination against women.

“The situation facing Afghan women and girls is heartbreaking,” Dutch foreign minister Casper Veldkamp said on social media. “They are almost entirely excluded from public life. We cannot accept this.”

This, he said, is why the four countries are holding Afghanistan accountable for violating the Women’s Convention, or CEDAW.  The country backed the convention in 2003 before the Taliban came back to power.

Supporters of the plan told the Guardian that even if the Taliban refused to acknowledge the court’s authority, an ICJ ruling would have a deterrent effect on other states seeking to normalise diplomatic relations with the Taliban.

Signatories to the ICJ are expected to abide by its rulings.

New Dutch rules on dealing with asylum requests led officials to reject a claim from an Afghan woman earlier this summer, despite the desperate situation facing women there.