Forced confessions of women
by: Tabasum Mehri The Taliban’s interior affairs ministry is said to have released a video of prisoner women confessing to Taliban, in which women spoke of being encouraged and coerced by others to protest against the Taliban government. In a video released by the Taliban’s Interior Affairs Ministry, girls in Taliban custody say women living […]
The whirling dancer fled from Taliban Group regime
The only female whirling dancer in Afghanistan was to kick off her biggest tour around the country. Then the Taliban took over. The Taliban sees Sufi whirling dervishes as against Islamic law. Fahima Mirzaei had no choice but to run. This is the story of her escape. This is part of the documentary Farewell My […]
Girls excluded as Afghan secondary schools reopen
The Taliban have excluded girls from Afghan secondary schools after they ordered only boys and male teachers to return to the classroom. A statement from the Islamist group saying secondary classes would resume made no mention of girls or women. One Afghan schoolgirl told the BBC she was devastated. “Everything looks very dark,” she said. […]
EU’s queen with a tarnished crown
Queen of Europe was once one of Angela Merkel’s many nicknames. But now Germany’s powerful chancellor is poised to turn her back on politics following this month’s elections, I’m not sure that royal label will stick. True: Angela Merkel is, by far, the longest-serving amongst current EU leaders. She’s participated in an estimated 100 EU […]
Women Should Lead Afghanistan
For hundreds of years men have failed the nation of Afghanistan. With that fact in place, it is any wonder why the nation fails to recognize the need for women leaders today. Going back to the First Anglo-Afghan War, a protracted civil war that began in 1816. Now again today, the Taliban have been raiding […]
Women beaten for demanding their rights
“We want equal rights, we want women in government,” dozens of female protesters chanted as they marched down a street in Kabul on Wednesday. A day earlier, the Taliban had announced their interim cabinet of ministers. There are no women in it, and they’ve also abolished the women’s affairs ministry. “We cannot accept this, and […]
Afghanistan: Shukria Barakzai’s whispered voice notes and dramatic escape
For Shukria Barakzai, 15 August seemed, at first, an unremarkable Sunday morning. A prominent journalist and politician, a former member of the Afghan parliament and ambassador to Norway, she was a frequent traveller. She already had a few bags packed, as she was due to fly to Turkey later that day for a brief trip. […]
Taliban tell Afghan women to stay home from work because soldiers are ‘not trained’ to respect them
Fear is mounting for women and girls in Afghanistan after the Taliban told working women to stay at home, admitting they were not safe in the hands of the militant group’s soldiers. Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid said at a news conference on Tuesday that women should not go to work for their own safety, undermining the group’s […]
Afghanistan: Taliban tell working women to stay at home
Working women in Afghanistan must stay at home until proper systems are in place to ensure their safety, a Taliban spokesman has told reporters. “It’s a very temporary procedure,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said. The Taliban, which enforced a strict version of Islamic law when they ran Afghanistan before 2001, retook full control of the country […]
Taliban vow to respect women, despite history of oppression
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban vowed Tuesday to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists as part of a publicity blitz aimed at reassuring world powers and a fearful population. Following a lightning offensive across Afghanistan that saw many cities fall to the insurgents without […]