“A group of human beings, the Afghan women, who were totally abandoned and left alone to take a fight against a regime that does anything in the their power to silence and imprison them. They experience torture, they are imprisoned, not only them but also their families because they fight for their rights. But beside of that they keep going. What they need from us, the Afghan diaspora and also the international society that we should not forget them and do not look down on this amazing fight. Any of us who call ourselves human rights activists, women’s right activists and feminists, it is our duty to stand by them. I would suggest we use every platform that we have to be their voice and to echo their voice. It is very important to get in touch directly with them which is very possible if there a will there is a way. We need to stay connected with them. This moral support is actually very important. We should try to give them a platform where they can speak and give us firsthand information, that crimes happening against them. Because right now the news is not getting out of Afghanistan, freedom of expression is not existing and the women are being silenced. There is a lot happening that we don’t even hear about. But we can do it to connect with them and there are many ways of connecting with them and luckily internet is one of them. And give them that platform that they inform us what is actually going on inside Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban came to power, they have done everything to take Afghan women out of the society. They are not longer allowed to drive, no driving licenses are issued to them, education is not allowed after the 6th grade, they are not allowed to travel without a mahram and now they are forced to wear a burqa. It is very difficult for women not to be affected by this belief that they keep telling them that you are not a human being. If they believe that they are human beings and I deserve all the rights and keeping the hope that I will be alive and respected as a human being and if I keep fighting, I will be able to live and be respected. Maintaining that hope is the difficult part at the moment. There is no indication that there will be better times. The whole international society has left Afghanistan alone. So keeping on that hope and that belief that one day that there will be better times is the most difficult part.”
