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South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

The Taliban orders women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public

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Taliban officials announced that women and girls would be expected to stay home, and if they were to venture out, to cover in all-encompassing loose clothing that only reveals their eyes – preferably, a burka. The restrictions on women's movement and dress are the harshest that the Taliban have announced since they came to power in August. It suggested the increasing dominance of the group's hard-line leaders, who appear to be behind the extended ban on most women and girls attending secondary school. Saturday's announcement seemed to confirm the fears of many Afghans that the Taliban
South Asia | Afghanistan | Activism

The activists leading efforts for women’s rights at Afghan talks

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Jamila Afghani, a prominent women's rights activist, was getting ready to address a peace dialogue attended by Afghan leaders and Taliban representatives in Doha, when she got the news of an attack back home. Sponsored by Qatar and Germany, the two-day talks in Doha are attended by Taliban representatives and about 50 Afghan politicians and activists, including 10 female delegates. Afghani said many young female Afghans were pinning their hopes on her and other women delegates to continue talks with the Taliban on women's rights in the country. "The meeting is a good start, w
South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

Taliban assurance of ‘women’s rights’ has big caveat

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An agreement by the Taliban to respect women's rights may seem like a breakthrough, but activists have questioned how the hardline Islamists - notorious for stomping on freedoms - will interpret the careful wording. A historic meeting between Afghan representatives and the Taliban concluded late on Monday with the longtime foes issuing a joint statement, including a reference to women's rights. Participants at the Doha summit agreed that "assuring women rights in political, social, economic, educational, cultural affairs as per (and) within the Islamic framework of Islamic values", i
South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

Kabul’s Women Find Power and Liberation in the City’s Vibrant Cafes

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On some days, life as a young woman in Kabul can feel suffocating for Hadis Lessani Delijam, a 17-year-old high school senior. Once, a man on the street harangued her for her makeup and western clothes; they are shameful, he bellowed. A middle-aged woman cursed her for strolling and chatting with a young man. “She called me things that are so terrible I can’t repeat them,” Delijam says. For solace, Delijam retreats to an unlikely venue – the humble coffee shop. “This is the only place where I can relax and feel free, even if it’s only for a few hours,” Delijam said recen
South Asia | Afghanistan | Crimes

Mena Mangal: Journalist and women’s rights campaigner shot dead in broad daylight in Kabul

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An Afghan journalist and political advisor, who was vocal about women’s rights in the country, has been gunned down in broad daylight, just days after saying she believed her life was in danger. Mena Mangal was shot dead on Saturday morning in a public place while she was on her way to work in the capital city of Kabul. Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said one or possibly more assailants had escaped the scene but no one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and police say it is not yet clear whether the murder was a terror attack or an attack from
South Asia | Afghanistan | Culture

Trailblazing women of Kabul, Afghanistan – a photo essay

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In 2018, less than a quarter of photographs published in major media outlets were taken by female photojournalists. Women by Women aims to demonstrate the importance of showing diverse perspectives in photography; female as well as male; local as well as international, and how different the world can look as a result. Putting this brief in the hands of local female photographers, the series starts in Kabul, Afghanistan, with the stories of a kickboxer, politician, street artist, yoga teacher, fashion designer and drugs counsellor. They are all breaking down gender barriers and shattering
South Asia | Afghanistan | Science

Finally, visas in hand, Afghan girls depart for the U.S. and a global robotics competition

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When Afghan 10th-grader Fatemeh Qaderian learned that her girls’ robotics team had been denied visas to attend an international competition in Washington — despite applying twice — the 14-year-old said she “lost hope.” “We worked hard and spent a lot of time,” said Qaderian, who flew back and forth with her teammates from their hometown in western Afghanistan to apply at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. “I called my parents and told them what happened, and they were upset, too.” Those emotions morphed into elation as Qaderian and her teammates boarded a plane at Kabul Interna
South Asia | Afghanistan | Activism

Afghan teenager braves threats, family pressure to lead women’s orchestra

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Like many teenagers, 19-year-old Negin Khpalwak from Kunar in eastern Afghanistan loves music, but few people of her age have battled as fiercely to pursue their passion in the face of family hostility and threats. Playing instruments was banned outright during the period of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and even today, many conservative Muslims frown on most forms of music. Negin took her first steps learning music in secret, before eventually revealing her activity to her father. He encouraged her, but the reaction from the rest of her conservative Pashtun family was hostile.
South Asia | Afghanistan | Activism

Afghanistan’s First Female Street Artist Brings Hijabs And Feminism To City Walls

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A woman in a purple hijab sits playing the piano, a tear rolling down her cheek. She plays her solitary tune amongst a sea of blue skyscrapers, soaring above the cars that zoom beneath her unnoticed. This subject already wears her contradictions proudly -- she is strong, she is vulnerable, she is graceful, creative, separate, sad. And yet, at least it seems, she calls out to no one, content to sit with her feelings and express herself creatively, freely, in peace. This work of street art was made by Shamsia Hassani, widely known as the first prominent woman street artist in Afghanistan. H
South Asia | Afghanistan | Technology

How Afghan women are making unprecedented strides in the technology sector, despite challenges

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Earlier this month, on December 17, a vibrant group of young women, with the help of Twitter, congregated in Bengaluru to discuss new trends and potential of women influence in technology. A lot has been written on that, the participants of which are rightfully seen as influencers of women empowerment in the region. However, about 2,500 kilometres away, a much smaller gathering of female technology professionals came together to share their insights with young talented women, in a less likely setting—in the war-torn city of Kabul - for the TechWomen Summit. Young Afghan women, who were al
South Asia | Afghanistan | Activism

MEET SONITA, THE AFGHAN RAPPER ENDING CHILD MARRIAGE ONE SONG AT A TIME

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When Sonita Alizadeh was 10, her parents tried to marry her off. They were unsuccessful, but when she became a teenager they tried again. What they didn’t know was that in the meantime Sonita had discovered her passion for rap music. After the second attempt by her mother a few years ago, she recorded a music video about child marriage that captured the world’s attention. Now a student at Wasatch Academy in the United States, she continues to advocate for ending child marriage. Here, in her own words, she talks about why daughters should not be for sale. To the 28 girls who will be fo
South Asia | Afghanistan | Crimes

Afghan radio station focused on women’s rights is a casualty of the Taliban

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As the Taliban fighters approached, the employees of Radio Roshani fled. They locked the station door behind them, the pre-recorded programs still on the air, seemingly in defiance. On the afternoon playlist was a feature to encourage Afghan women to take part in politics. But it was never broadcast. “The radio was silenced at 2 p.m.,” said station director Sediqa Sherzai, who was listening to the programming shortly after fleeing the compound in Kunduz. By then, Taliban militants had seized the station.
South Asia | Afghanistan | Activism

Introducing Sahar Speaks, A New Initiative Empowering Afghan Women To Tell Their Own Stories

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fghanistan is often cited as the worst place on the planet to be a woman and one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. In a country still reeling from more than 13 years of war, only a fifth of local journalists are women. And no female Afghan reporters are working on the ground for international outlets. All of this means that Afghan men and foreign reporters are the ones left trying to tell the stories of a notoriously insulated population. But here’s where a tenacious new initiative comes in. Sahar Speaks will train Afghan women as reporters and multimedia-mind
South Asia | Afghanistan | Arts

Afghanistan’s first female conductor

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Negin Khpolwak, a student at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, has raised the baton to become Afghanistan’s first female conductor. In a country where the Taliban once banned music, the female students have made history by performing their first concert with Khpolwak conducting. The Afghanistan National Institute of Music was established in June 2010, with music teachers employed from Afghanistan as well as the US, Australia, Russia and India. It currently has 200 students, including a quarter who are girls. The Institute’s founder and director Dr Ahmad Naser Sarmast has cont

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