Faces of

Resilience:
Portraits of Afghan Women
Human Rights Defenders
 Introduction
Amid decades of conflict, foreign invasion and defenders and journalists, denied women and girls
impoverishment, Afghan women and girls have found access to education and other rights, imposed dress
ways to nurture gender justice and resist oppression. codes and male guardians, and eliminated services
The Afghan women human rights defenders who and protections for gender violence victims. It has
appear in this book have been active in local civil enforced its policies through murder, enforced
society organizations, international organizations disappearance, torture including sexual violence, and
and government platforms. They have taken their other inhumane acts on the basis of gender, sexual
messages of gender equality to radio and television, orientation and gender identity or expression.
as well as to the Afghan streets, their communities
This book is being released after the 22nd
and their families. Collectively, their stories span from
anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council
before the first Taliban regime in the 1990s, through
Resolution 1325 regarding women, peace and
the 20-year US invasion of Afghanistan, to the second
security, which commits governments to ensure
Taliban takeover in August 2021 and its aftermath.
women’s meaningful participation in all efforts
Many Afghan women, including those featured in to maintain and promote peace and security. The
this book, utilized pockets of civic space following women featured in this book are just a small number
the Taliban’s removal from power in 2001 to advance of the countless Afghan women who are dedicated to
gender equality in Afghanistan. Despite claims that uplifting women and girls in Afghanistan, struggling
the US invasion was meant to protect women’s rights, against gender violence, establishing peace, and
the US allied itself with warlords with abysmal securing civil, political, economic and social rights.
human rights records, poured almost 1,000 times They continue in these movements because they
more money into military expenditures than into know that efforts to address Afghanistan’s ongoing
women’s rights funding, and allowed women to humanitarian crisis and to ensure human rights will
be excluded from peace processes. Women have only succeed with their participation.
nonetheless spurred important advances in access
Afghan women have called on governments, civil
to justice, education, employment, and political
society organizations, international agencies and
participation for women and girls.
Afghan society, not only to stand with them in
Like countless Afghan women human rights defense of women and girls’ human rights, but to
defenders, many women pictured in this book were ensure their rightful place at the table in decisions
forced to flee Afghanistan after the Taliban seized and mechanisms addressing Afghanistan. Despite
power again in 2021. They left with few resources, enormous challenges, they are determined to assert
many making harrowing trips with children and their rights to meaningful political participation.
other relatives. While many are now stuck in limbo, Given the massive impact of foreign militarism on
unable to work and uncertain of their future, the Afghanistan, it is only just for governments and
threats to their lives and wellbeing left them little international agencies to listen to Afghan women
choice but to escape Afghanistan. now and to allow them to guide the policies that
impact their lives. 
The Taliban remains committed to its old oppressive
policies. Its members have attacked human rights
 Rabia
Rabia is an Afghan women’s human rights defender, discrimination against women fueled Rabia’s desire
media personality, and gender specialist committed to to study law in order to work for women’s rights.
education and safety for women and girls. She grew
After secondary school, she had the opportunity to
up in a village in Ghor province, where schooling
move to Kabul for higher education. This experience
was rare and primary school was held outside in a
was challenging; her extended family disapproved
field. Some in her community were strictly opposed
of education for girls beyond high school. People
to women’s education and shamed girls for attending
from her hometown criticized her family and spread
school. While in primary school, Rabia remembers
disparaging rumors about her. Her brother convinced
seeing a campaign poster for a woman presidential
her mother to allow her to continue to learn and
candidate, Masouda Jalal. Witnessing a woman run
bring skills back into their home.
for president inspired her to continue to study.
Rabia’s determination and personal struggle had
During twelfth grade, Rabia began working with
important impacts in her community. Her family
Voice of Women in Ghor province. Voice of Women
would come to feel proud that their daughter was
ran a shelter for women and girl survivors of violence
sought out to provide guidance to other women
or sexual assault. While there, she saw that in many
and girls who went to Kabul from Ghor province to
instances women’s and girls’ families turned on them
study. They were also impressed with her continuous
when they suffered domestic abuse.
efforts for women’s rights. Rabia is proud that her
“I witnessed the case of a woman who was twenty achievements encouraged other families in Ghor
and married to a sixty-year-old man … because the Province to support their daughters’ education.
man paid her parents. It was a hard life for her.
In Kabul, Rabia was an outspoken human rights
At age thirty, she learned of Voice of Women and
advocate. Once, the Taliban killed two university
explained that her husband was aggressive, cruel,
students who were traveling from Kabul to Ghor
and abusive. The girl’s family criticized her for filing
province. After the murders, activists planned a
a complaint,” Rabia says. “If you complain, you take a
protest, and Rabia was the only woman participant.
big risk, maybe even risking your life. Her case went
She chose to break patriarchal social taboos because
to court, and they decided on behalf of the woman
“women should come out and protest for our rights,
that her husband must grant a divorce. But when
we need to go out and raise our voices and fight
she got divorced, she had to live in the shelter for a
for our rights.” Rabia appeared on many different
long time because her family would not allow her
television programs to draw local and international
in their home.” Witnessing this type of violence and
authorities’ attention to the women’s struggles in
Ghor province. Rabia’s work also caught the attention Arriving in Pakistan did not end their challenges.
of the Taliban, who began to threaten her for her Refugees must renew their visas every sixty days
activities on behalf of Afghan women. by leaving and returning to Pakistan. With no other
countries willing to accept them, often Afghan
In August 2021, Rabia was working in the gender
refugees’ only option is to return to Afghanistan.
section of the Afghan government at the Supreme
When Rabia and her spouse crossed the border, the
Council of Reconciliation, an office set up for

Habiba
Taliban border guards were aggressive and brutal.
peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan
They denied refugees the opportunity to use the
government in Doha. Rabia was halfway through
restroom and hit people with pipes and sticks. Often,
her work day when she heard news of the Taliban’s
refugees have to pay bribes to Afghan and Pakistani Habiba is a women’s human rights defender from An experience at the training facility further
seizure of Kabul. She returned to her house on foot in
officers to process their visas. This situation makes it Kunduz Province in Afghanistan. She has had to flee impressed upon her the importance of advocacy
heels. Rabia remembers the fear that consumed her
incredibly difficult for Afghan refugees in Pakistan to the country twice during her lifetime, most recently for women’s and girls’ rights. “An older male guard
as she wondered if the Taliban would kill her on her
rebuild their lives. to Pakistan after the Taliban seized control of assaulted the seven-year-old daughter of a woman
way home because of her hairstyle and clothes that
Afghanistan in 2021. in our training. The woman whose daughter was
attacked had to continue working there after this
To escape Taliban rule in the 1990s, Habiba’s family
“When I went to different government administrative fled to Iran as refugees. They lived in a refugee camp
because of a difficult economic situation,” she said.
“The man deserved to be terminated. After that, I
with conditions ripe for parasitic and other diseases.
offices, there were only men in every sector, there were no Habiba and her siblings had access to very basic
understood that if this man could attack this small

women. When there was a challenge concerning the rights healthcare and to education up to grade twelve.
girl, there are a lot of women and girls suffering
from sexual assault who need justice.”
She proudly remembers that despite facing poverty
of women, it was always considered by men, who would just and lack of encouragement at school, she obtained
ignore it. They were not interested in the rights of women. excellent grades.
“When I saw how women
That’s when I decided; I will start studying law.” These experiences instilled in her the desire to
advocate for women’s and girls’ right to education were suffering under the
Rabia, June 21, 2022
in Afghanistan. “There is a desperate flow in the Taliban, I thought I should
heart of every Afghan girl to achieve growth and

day. She said, “everyone was running this way and As someone passionate about education, Rabia
excellence,” she says. While in Iran, she and her go back to Afghanistan and
that way, looking for somewhere to hide, it was like a is especially disturbed by the Taliban’s ban on
family followed news of the Taliban’s oppression of advocate for women’s rights.”
women in Afghanistan. When her family returned
doomsday.” She felt lost and numb. secondary schooling for girls. She hopes the
Habiba, June 2022
home in 2004, after the Taliban lost power, Habiba
international community continues to withhold
She and her husband were married soon after the was even more determined to fight for women’s and
recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s official
Taliban takeover. Because all venues in the country girls’ rights.
government. She is critical of international policies In 2010, Habiba joined the Empowerment Center
were closed, they celebrated their wedding at home.
that have permitted Taliban members to travel In Iran, Habiba had learned the art and craft of for Women, where she worked as a human rights
They assumed no one could hear the quiet music
abroad, while they prohibit women in Afghanistan weaving rugs. At 19 years old, the Afghan Ministry defender. She launched a training series on
they played, but Taliban members stopped by the
from driving. She feels the international community of Public Affairs asked her to lead women in a women’s human rights in Islam and on how women
wedding and threatened to kill them if they played
is failing Afghans. “Since they decided to deliver our rug-making workshop to stimulate their economic can promote and defend their rights. Habiba’s
music again. Because of Rabia’s history of dedicated
country to the Taliban then they should also bring development. Habiba felt hesitant about her capacity leadership skills increased as she gained knowledge
activism, she and her family ultimately had to go into
strategies to deal with them and pressure them.”  to lead the women, many of whom were twice her working among many different women’s human
hiding, spending several months on the run before
age, yet she excelled as a trainer. rights advocacy groups. As part of this formative
being able to escape to Pakistan.
experience, she visited women and girls in rural Habiba had to move frequently within the region
villages and fostered their motivation to learn and and change dress in order to hide her identity. On a
stand up for their rights. She is proud that as a result couple occasions, she was chased by cars with dark
of her team’s activities, many girls attended grade windows on her way to work.
school and universities, and took a stand against
Habiba was living in Kunduz when the province
domestic and other forms of gender violence.
fell to the Taliban in 2021. She hid in a basement
The following year, Habiba became a community for days, surrounded by the sounds of rockets and
organizer with the Afghan Civil Society Forum bullets outside. Eventually, she and her husband
Organization, where she built networks and were able to flee to Kabul and later Pakistan. As they
mechanisms for women and girls to report violence made their way through multiple checkpoints along
against them to authorities. Despite corruption the journey, Habiba feared that someone would
among the police, the project managed to garner recognize her as a women’s human rights defender.
help for a number of women survivors of violence. She has lost friends and family to the Taliban.

Starting in 2015, Habiba served as a province Habiba continues today to advocate for Afghan
coordinator for Kunduz province with Equality women and girls’ rights. “With the Taliban in
for Peace and Democracy. She monitored peace control, everyone is suffering, but especially
and security in Kunduz with a network of women. We don’t have the right to live or work.
women activists, students, teachers and other There are no rights for me. This is very painful for
professionals. The network documented cases us. I feel lost… Still, as a local leader for women
of women facing violence or discrimination and in Afghanistan, it is my duty to work as a human
developed legal and political advocacy campaigns rights defender, I must continue to work and
on their behalf. Habiba worked to transfer rights serve them.” Habiba works with the Women and
trainings and advocacy skills to local women from Peace Studies Organization documenting human
smaller villages. This project eventually became its rights violations reported from her connections
own organization, called the Kunduz First District in Afghanistan. “There are thousands still waiting
Women’s Social Association. in Afghanistan and in Pakistan to be evacuated,
and sometimes I feel that I am suffering from
Habiba also worked with the Women and Peace
depression. Everyone is suffering.”
Studies Organization in Afghanistan as a focal point in
Kunduz, elevating the concerns of women in Kunduz As a refugee once again, Habiba continues to worry
to the Doha peace talks between the Taliban and the about her and her family’s safety. She worries about
Afghan government. She found the effort frustrating her own daughter growing up in this context and
because “women representatives were invited to hopes that the international community of women
participate but not given any power there.” will support Afghan women and others who had to
flee. She calls on the international community to
Because of her activism for women’s human rights,
use non-military means to pressure the Taliban to
Habiba received many threats. One night, armed
recognize and respect women’s rights. 
men stormed her house while she and her children
were not there and beat her husband. They told her
husband that they were looking for Habiba, and
they didn’t take money or possessions. After this,
 Jamila
Jamila is an Afghan educator and women’s human degree in International Relations. Her close study of
rights defender. She promotes women’s and girls’ Afghanistan’s political situation fueled her desire to
literacy and works to disseminate interpretations of do something for her home country. During her last
Islam that support women’s and girls’ rights. year of study, the Taliban took over Afghanistan for
the first time.
She grew up in a privileged, patriarchal family. Her
father considered it shameful to educate girls. Jamila, “Already feminism was ripe in my body. Then I was
who walks with the aid of two crutches, feels her ready to start fighting for women’s rights. My own
disability allowed her to access education. Her father life was an example for myself—with a disability
agreed to enroll her after a physician recommended and with a very conservative family, education
she attend school, given that she couldn’t engage empowered me to stand for my rights, and I wanted
in most activities with other kids. Jamila was a to do the same for other girls and women. Although
hardworking student and excelled in school, but this my father and brother were totally against me, I
didn’t change patriarchal dynamics in her family. started working with a group of sisters.”
Her cognitive dissonance grew as she experienced
the encouraging environment of her school while at
home her parents devoted more attention to their “Feminism was boiling inside
sons. “In my family, the mindset was that women are
weak, girls are weak, they are subordinate to boys,”
my body from the beginning.”
she says. “Feminism was boiling inside my body from Jamila, May 2nd, 2022
the beginning.”

In 1976, her family moved to Pakistan where she was Jamila founded the Noor Educational Center, which
able to pursue her secondary education. Despite her worked in refugee camps providing emergency
father and brothers’ opposition, Jamila also managed support, literacy, and other educational activities
to attend higher education with the support of her guided by women in the camps. After the U.S.
sisters-in-law. “I learned how, with the support of invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Jamila returned to
women, we can do much more.” Jamila ultimately her home country. She remembers being startled
graduated from Peshawar University with a master’s by the state of Kabul when she returned. “All
the windows were broken. All the houses were Imams faced. Jamila knew of twelve who were
damaged because of the civil war.” She started killed in attacks by extremists.
literacy programs, including home-based “catch-
Jamila’s status as a women’s human rights defender
up programs,” enabling young women and girls
meant that she and her family had to flee when the
who had missed four years of education under the
Taliban took over Kabul in 2021. Jamila faced the
Taliban rule to catch up in two years. With support
added difficulty of trying to navigate the crowds that
from Relief International, Noor Educational
swarmed the airport with a physical disability. Her
Center’s staff expanded to 50,000 teachers, all of
first attempts failed. On August 25th, she and her
whom were women.
family managed to make it onto a flight out of the

Nafisa
In 2008, Jamila attended a conference in Malaysia country the day before the ISIS-K bombing at the
held by Women’s Islamic Initiative in Spirituality airport that killed 183 people on August 26, 2021.
and Equality (WISE). The conference convened They wound up in Norway, where she was safe but
women Islamic scholars focused on demonstrating felt disconnected from her community. Nafisa is an Afghan researcher, database officer, interviewed many women and girls. In Paktia, a
the fallacy of misogynist interpretations of Islam. civil society activist, women’s rights activist, and rural, conservative province, Nafisa came to more
Jamila’s organizations have continued operating and
This experience inspired Jamila to start a feminist leader in the Women & Peace Studies Organization. deeply understand the challenges girls in rural
holding press conferences in Afghanistan to push the
sharia interpretation project in Afghanistan. Initially She has dedicated herself to equipping Afghan areas face within their families and communities.
Taliban to resume education for women and girls.
focusing on twenty Imams from large mosques, women with the resources and networks they need In Paktia, the research unit was not allowed to
She says that the Taliban uses people’s ignorance
Jamila arranged meetings to change religious to succeed professionally. Nafisa was born in Kabul meet with girls face-to-face and instead met with a
and poverty for political benefit. However, “we’ve
interpretations. Her husband, also an Islamic scholar, and raised within a progressive, intellectual family. curtain between them. Nafisa and her colleagues
implemented seeds everywhere in the country.
used connections to help her bring the initial group After graduating from high school, Nafisa continued were fearful because many families had weapons
Twenty years back, there were 100 Jamila-type
together. At first, the Imams were resistant to being her studies at Kabul Education University, where she visible around them. They were able to build rapport
women, and now there are 20,000. So the Taliban
taught by a woman, but Jamila reached them by specialized in English literature. with the girls they interviewed in other provinces,
understand it’s not easy to keep us down.”
asking their advice on problems women and girls
faced. She helped them understand how those Jamila remains actively engaged in the struggle for

problems resulted from systemic discrimination Afghan women’s rights, organizing and lobbying
“There is starvation and disaster in Afghanistan because
and impacted their own female relatives. Jamila together with women in Afghanistan and the

focused on changing Imams’ attitudes and promoting diaspora. She is deeply concerned about the loss of women, who were journalists, human rights activists, and
women’s and girls’ rights to education, to own educational access for many women and girls, the
professionals, are deprived of all activities. Women must sit
property, to marry whom they wish, to receive equal thousands of female teachers who became jobless,

inheritance, and to socio-political participation. and the halt to justice and services for domestic at home, they cannot even participate in social activities.”
violence, which has caused many survivors to be Nafisa, June 2022
Her patient work paid off. She produced a manual
sent back to their abusers. She insists that solutions
on women’s rights under Islam and won support
must come from within Afghanistan rather than be
for it from the Imams, who agreed to teach it however, and many of the girls thanked Nafisa and
imposed from outside. She urges the international Nafisa has worked as a researcher for different
within their mosques. She organized youth to help her colleagues for coming and gave them gifts to
community to avoid investing money in fighting, organizations and companies. In her position at the
monitor the Friday worship services to determine show their appreciation.
which she says will cause civil war, and to reconsider Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit, Nafisa
if the Imams were adhering to the manual. The investigated the challenges girls and young women Nafisa also worked with the Ministry of Women’s
sanctions that are only benefiting the Taliban while
initial twenty Imams she trained helped to train faced trying to get an education in Afghanistan. Affairs in Afghanistan as a computer operator; she
leaving the Afghan people to suffer. 
others, leading to an estimated 6,000 Imams in For this work, she traveled to five provinces: was responsible for providing administrative support
22 provinces being trained within the program, a Herat, Kabul, Paktia, Jalalabad, and Parwan and and managing projects with various clients and
significant number considering the risks moderate
organizations. She excelled at administrative work
but felt compelled towards more on-the-ground
work for women’s rights. Nafisa began to volunteer
at the Women’s Voice Organization in their division
on Freedom of Press and Women’s Rights/Violence
Against Women. She also worked with another
section of the organization, called the Peace Activist
Network, connecting Afghan women with attorneys
to advocate for them in peace talks and elevate their
concerns to the international community. With the
Peace Activist Network, Nafisa also placed women in
teaching positions at various schools.

Nafisa was working with a website developer called

Netlinks at the time of the Taliban takeover on
August 15, 2021, which was “one of the most difficult
and challenging days of my life.” Netlink’s contract
with the Afghan Ministry of Defense meant that
Nafisa and her colleagues were directly exposed to
violence. The Netlinks office was the target of an
attempted bombing. No attackers were able to enter
the office, but people outside were killed and injured.
Nafisa eventually had to flee with her family to
Pakistan, facing uncertainty about her future.

The Taliban’s oppression of women means that

“there is starvation and disaster happening
in Afghanistan because the women who were
journalists, human rights activists, and professionals,
are deprived of all activities.” Nafisa urges the
international human rights community to advocate
for women whose loss of work opportunities has led
families into starvation. She urges the international
community to make peace in Afghanistan a priority
and to pay serious attention to the values and
freedoms of women in intra-Afghan dialogues. She
asserts that women must be present in peace-making
discussions. 
 Najiba
Najiba is a mother of five children and a human rights comparative politics with a minor in print journalism.
defender who grew up in Kabul and Pakistan. In 2021, In Kyrgyzstan, Najiba met people her age engaged in
she fled Afghanistan and is currently living in Sweden social change advocacy in their communities. Their
where she continues to fight for justice in Afghanistan. activism inspired her to apply new strategies for
enacting change back in Afghanistan.
Najiba was motivated to be a human rights defender
by the experience of being female in Afghanistan. In 2010, Najiba moved to her husband’s home
“Every woman in Afghanistan is a defender because province of Takhar in Afghanistan. Despite the
the hardship that we face starts from the moment of region’s conservatism, she found an active civil
childhood,” she says. “You are never part of the family society there. Najiba joined a community of human
because there are expectations that daughters will rights advocates focused on Afghanistan’s northeast
leave the family … This is how parents gauge their region. She helped establish a network organization
feelings.” During her childhood she saw that parents called Afghan Youth for Peace, which developed
invested more in sons, believing they would continue youth leaders in the women’s rights and human
their bloodline and care for them when they were rights movement in Afghanistan. She developed a
older. Najiba feels that the leadership role she played six-month course where participants enhanced their
in her family when they were refugees in Pakistan self-awareness, self-esteem, and critical thinking
helped to change their perception of girls. about human rights issues like gender equality. She
developed a peer-teaching structure for the course,
In 1992, her family had to leave Afghanistan as rival
and the young participants began to coach and
guerrilla fighters battled for power. “I was the one
mentor others.
who really took care of the family, and I changed that
culture. So I just wanted to show that no, it is not only Najiba recognized the link between economic
the boys and men who can do it. That we also can do dependence and gender oppression. “One of the
this.” Najiba feels lucky she was able to go to school, reasons that women in Afghanistan are always
despite having to struggle to pay for it. “I was working oppressed, why they’re always experiencing violence,
at the same time I was studying. When I was in grade it is because they are dependent on their families,
4, I started working because I had to start to pay for on their male member of the family. They don’t have
my school’s institution fee.” any economic independence to say ‘no’ to violence
that they face.” She began to work with the Aga Khan
In 2001, her family returned to Afghanistan. Upon
Foundation to promote rural women’s economic
her return, Najiba obtained a scholarship to study
empowerment. Najiba performed a market survey
in Kyrgyzstan. In 2009, she completed an MBA
of Balochi needlework and found demand for it in
after having received a BA in international and
the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and Iran. She
built a needlework skills program and organized In Sweden, Najiba continues her human rights work
textile workers into a women’s business association. with the Urgent Action Fund: “I am in contact with
Through this program, women from both rural Afghanistan every day.” She hears from Afghan
and urban areas without formal education learned women about what it is like to live under the current
business skills and were able to work from their Taliban regime, including the increasing daily
homes in order to make and save money. restrictions and ongoing human rights violations. For
her, human rights work is not a decision or choice

Mahbouba
When the Taliban began taking over parts of
but rather a commitment and a moral responsibility,
Afghanistan in 2021, Najiba was working with the
especially as someone who was able to flee. “People
Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, leading two large
inside Afghanistan… face fear and security issues. But
offices and overseeing almost 1,500 staff, including Mahbouba is the Executive Director of the Afghan in 2003, she began to volunteer teaching English
we outside the country, when we are protected, and
directly supervising 11 men. Najiba was a well-known Women Skills Development Center and the Board and International Relations courses. Mahbouba’s
we are safe, we have to raise our voice. We cannot
figure in the community. She spoke frequently on the President of the Afghan Women Network. She teaching extended beyond traditional book work.
just sit doing nothing.”
radio and TV. As a result of her prominence and her operates safehouses for internally displaced families She taught students how to interact in mixed-gender
support for women’s and girls’ rights, she received When she isn’t fighting for human rights or caring and domestic violence survivors in Kabul. The workplaces, she instructed her students that women’s
threats from the Taliban and had to move around for for her family, Najiba likes to run. In Afghanistan, safehouse she currently runs is one of the only ones clothing and behaviors were never an invitation
still operating following the Taliban’s 2021 takeover. for harassment, and she imbued her students with
She has chosen to stay in her country despite grave values of gender equality.
“This feminism grew up in childhood, inside of me. (…) risks. “There is such beauty in my people, the Afghans.
One winter day, Mahbouba encountered a man
Such resilience from men and women—especially the
This is not my history; this is the history of millions of women. They are so hardworking,” she says.
dragging himself across snowy ground. She asked
how she could help him, and he said that he
women in Afghanistan.” Mahbouba views the Taliban’s seizure of power as needed a wheelchair. Mahbouba offered to help
Najiba. May 9, 2022 devastating for human rights, while also revealing him procure one. This experience prompted her
of weakness and corruption in the Afghan political to think more deeply about the complex, harmful
system in the years prior. “On August 15, 2021, I saw impacts decades of war has had on the physical
democracy die,” she says. “If it is built on nothing, it and mental health of people in Afghanistan. She
her safety. She ultimately had to flee to Pakistan with as a woman, she was not allowed to run outside,
can turn into nothing, just like that.” began coordinating with business professionals in
just the clothes she had on and eventually was able to even prior to the Taliban takeover. Whether on
Afghanistan to provide wheelchairs for Afghans
move to Sweden. a treadmill or on the streets of a small town in Mahbouba grew up in Kabul. Mahbouba’s father
who had lost limbs in the war.
Sweden, she runs to fly. Running provides her with was a doctor. She credits her mother with planting
Najiba remains committed to supporting those who
the feeling of liberty that she says “most Afghan the spirit of a human rights defender within her. Mahbouba also worked with an organization called
remain in Afghanistan. “Inside Afghanistan, people
women consider an illusion.” Her mother supported neighbors and extended Equal Access. They traveled to different provinces,
are suffering. Women are again prohibited to go to
family with emotional and financial issues, including spoke to women about the challenges in their lives,
school. Women are not working, they are unemployed Najiba urges the international community to join
helping domestic violence victims. Mahbouba was a and distributed information on health and women’s
and the situation is terrible. There are no economic her in calling attention to the human rights crisis in
caregiver in her youth. She would bring her father’s rights, along with solar panels and radios. This
opportunities, and people are suffering. Families are Afghanistan. “I as an individual and one organization
medical bag to tend to children’s wounds if there was work began in Bamyan province and continued in
forced to sell their children because they need to feed as a single organization cannot change anything. We
an accident in the neighborhood. “I was a dreamer, Badakhshan, Kabul, Parwan, Kapisa, Panshir, and
the rest of the families. They are selling their kidneys, have to stay together. And then we can put pressure
and I still am. I believe in humanity,” she says. Herat, among other places. Out of this project grew
and it is just a disaster. But still, we have so many of on governments and ... advocate for the rights of
a radio show that Mahbouba hosted, called “Our
those young generations still inside Afghanistan and people in Afghanistan.”  Mahbouba fled Afghanistan during the Russian
Beloved Afghanistan by Mahbouba.” Mahbouba
still, they are working and supporting each other, and occupation in 1978. She and her husband moved to
means ‘beloved,’ and the title of her radio show is
they are reporting and protecting in a different way.” the United States. When she returned to Afghanistan
a play on her name that also captures her love of Afghanistan went out the window, my twenty years
Afghanistan. The radio show used popular education of effort went out the window as well.” Despite
methods to advance people’s understanding of the the danger Mahbouba faces in Taliban-controlled
importance of women’s and girls’ rights and health. Afghanistan as a prominent women’s human
rights defender, she chose to remain in the country
Mahbouba has long been concerned about domestic
following the takeover. “Afghanistan is really my
violence. She became involved with the Afghan
weak spot, the history is tied to every drop of my
Women’s Network, AWN, which she describes as
blood and every bone in my body. I have an honest
one of the first platforms uniting Afghan women
love and honest affection for the children, women,
to raise their human rights concerns before the
and men of Afghanistan. I think it is the most
male-dominated government. One of their primary
amazing patchwork of a beautiful quilt that was
concerns was to support women survivors of
sewn together by so many people, especially the
violence in Afghanistan and build systems to protect
women… There will be women in this country who
abuse victims. As a leader within the organization,
will need me. We can cry and laugh and listen to one
Mahbouba had a prominent role in ensuring its
another.”
continued existence, through principled leadership
emphasizing women’s participation in transparent Mahbouba is particularly concerned about the
decisions, elections, and activities. increasing unreported domestic violence occurring
in Afghanistan. While the systems and services
At the end of 2019, she began working with the
were not perfect, before the Taliban’s takeover,
Afghan Women Skills Development Center (AWSDC)
women had avenues for fleeing violence, and for
to run safehouses or shelters in Kabul. Since 2021,
seeking shelter and legal assistance. Now, women
many domestic violence shelters have been shut
face Taliban’s restrictions on their movements and
down by the Taliban. Mahbouba managed to
have almost nowhere to turn, condemning many to
advocate for the AWDSC shelters to stay open, by
remain at home with abusers.
explaining that shelters are necessary in any society
as safe places for women and survivors. Mahbouba advocates for relevant international
mechanisms to center Afghan women’s participation
Mahbouba was also involved with supporting the
and human rights. She encourages the international
first women members of the parliament starting in
community to take responsibility for human rights
2005. Mahbouba connected a network of women
violations in Afghanistan. As she told a Vice News
parliamentarians with leadership training, including
television reporter, “the international community left
lessons on campaigning, fundraising, working
Afghan women the same way they left Afghanistan.
with constituencies, and working with other
Like a hot potato. They burnt their hands, they
parliamentarians. Initially, she says, men chose the
dropped it. We’ve been abandoned. They couldn’t
women who joined the Afghan parliament, bolstering
care less about Afghan women, they couldn’t
their individual political power by placing women
care less about Afghanistan. But I am counting on
who would support them. By working with women
humanity. I am counting on women.” 
politicians, Mahbouba hoped to encourage them to
work independently and develop their own agendas.

Describing the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan,

Mahbouba says, “As soon as democracy in
 Tahseen
Tahseen is a journalist, poet, and storyteller who In 2003, at the start of her career in media,
prioritizes advocacy for women’s human rights and Tahseen worked with a radio program called
community empowerment in all her activities. She Life and Health. Radio is an accessible form of
has brought women and children’s health to the communication, especially for people in rural
forefront of radio programming in Afghanistan, communities. Tahseen used radio as a tool for
trained young journalists, and written books and gathering and disseminating resources for
stories about the lived experiences of women and women’s health. She met with women in many
youth in Afghanistan. different villages and spoke with them about

“When I became a journalist, I achieved leadership early in

my career, but it was not easy for me. I tried very hard to
reach that position. I proved that I could work like a man;
anything a man could do, I could also do.”
Tahseen, June 24 2022

health concerns. She would take these concerns

Tahseen grew up in Kabul in an open-minded
back to medical professionals, who would share
family with a house full of books. As a child, she
their solutions and suggestions on the radio. She
knew she wanted to work for human rights and
says this program still exists and remains one
women’s rights. While in university, she began to
of the most effective ways to disseminate health
write poems and stories based on the experiences
information to rural women.
of her peers with issues of gender and political
oppression. After school, Tahseen began working Tahseen also wrote and narrated children’s stories
as a journalist. She worked with BBC until 2016. on BBC radio. Like her stories from university, the
radio stories were about educating and advocating
for human rights, specifically the rights of children. Aman and sent threats to the whole journalist’s
Her 2005 story “The Rug That Wasn’t Finished” federation, including Tahsseen personally. Tahseen
is about the custom of child labor in the Afghan felt that she and her family were at risk. On March
Maybe, after two thousand years
textile industry. Children do very difficult labor, in 21, 2022, Tahseen made the decision to leave
rooms that are poorly lit, and face health problems her home and flee to Pakistan with her children, When butterflies fly from flowers of my eyelashes’ thorn And who would be examined historically
such as tuberculosis as a result of their conditions. mother, and sister. And dreams give its sweet smile as a gift to my eyes’ calm bed The stigma which grows from its heart
Tahseen’s story “A Tent in the Rain” tells of the
Tahseen and her family could not afford to fly My body becomes calm What is the color of it and it heals which broken link
support neighbors offered a refugee child living in
to Pakistan. They fled by land and escaped to And my tired spirit The feeling which is flowing from his/its eyes
a tent. A child in Helmand province told Tahseen
Islamabad. The cost of living in Islamabad is very
that they heard the story and felt motivated to help Flying like Kiomar’s smile, is the calmative of internal pains Quenches the thirst of which thirsty soul, of which
high for refugees without income. Tahseen and her impatient lake
their displaced neighbor by getting their parents to Takes me with itself
family of seven live in an apartment with three
give them an extra tent. And the evening of gloomy thoughts
rooms. The apartment has no running water or I feel
Covers which window and shows sad paintings
In addition to her work as a journalist, Tahseen reliable electricity. I experience being alive on nice hairs of Rodaba
provided training in TV and radio through a BBC The unknown odor of his body
Tahseen is in contact with her friends and And Sawgand and Samim give me the strength when I can’t
program in Afghanistan. She trained many young smile to the mountain Which poet’s big conjuring books?
colleagues in Afghanistan. As of June 2022, some
journalists, including Raouf Ajmal, who became a My mind worn out It agitates
women still worked at her radio station but were
successful journalist. Tahseen also writes poetry And gives the swift smell of old and outdated memoirs I wish you would
obligated to wear the hijab, work in a segregated
and has published several books. Recently, she
office, and censor their reporting to reflect the Acacia close to the wall Recognize the elements which I am made of
published a book called After Baarish, which
views of the Taliban. In addition, most Afghan Fills his nose And know
weaves the story of her personal life and personal
women journalists have experienced pay cuts that
pain into the story of the pain of all women in When an unkempt child The reason that why the gold is not destroyed in the dust
affect their ability to provide for their children. As
Afghanistan. Rolls up his sleeve and wants to carry my memoir Crazies of poet
a journalist, Tahseen is determined to not remain
When the Taliban took over in August 2021, silent; she wants people to know what life is like Sometimes I think Saying that I am from soft elements

Tahseen worked as a station manager for Killid for her as a refugee and for her colleagues and This life is crazy Time saw and examined me with his whip
Radio. Despite restrictions on the media following friends back in Afghanistan. It is used to stoning and calling down That how hard I am
the takeover, Tahseen continued to work at the
Tahseen recognizes that the lack of respect for Who knows? Harder than granite
station for seven months. Across Afghanistan,
women’s and children’s rights in Afghanistan Maybe after two thousand years Harder than the heart of my country
salaries of professionals decreased when the
predates the Taliban’s most recent takeover. She He will come That century that tolerates adversity
Taliban came into power. Tahseen’s income fell to
urges the international community to develop
34,000 Afs, less than 300 USD a month. The one whom my heart waits for Without crying and yelling
new mechanisms for monitoring human rights
Gives the smell of hot popcorn No one knows
Tahseen and her colleagues continued to build violations in Afghanistan, particularly violations of
solidarity and celebrate each other for their women and girls’ rights. That the wild child of time What is my space?

bravery in continuing to work under the Taliban Every moment wants to chew it North, south, east and west
regime. She was a member of an organization Sometimes I think Has no room for the geography of my soul
supporting women journalists working in
If I did not exist The life hangs on my hair
challenging situations. On March 17, 2022,
Who would be experienced by Allah? And his heart is beating 1001 times and trembling that
Journalist Day in Kabul, Tahseen gave a speech to
I should not throw it out 
honor the journalist Bahram Aman, a presenter
at TOLOnews. That night, the Taliban arrested
 Zohra
Zohra is a women’s human rights defender, emergency funding for themselves or their children.
community organizer, and small business owner In 2018, Zohra began working with the Ministry of
from Afghanistan. Zohra is the founder of the Justice in the Department of Cohesion, where she
organization Islamabad Petitioners and a member gathered young Afghans for cultural and social
of the leadership of Afghan Immigrants Petitioners activities. She also joined an activist group called the
living in Islamabad. Her critical role in the 2021 Youth Convergence Organization. With these groups,
and 2022 protests against the Taliban takeover made she continued to fight against state corruption and
Zohra and her family targets for persecution, forcing work for women’s rights. She and her colleagues
them to flee to Pakistan. demonstrated against violence against women,

“I don’t know when these problems will end, when my

children will go back to school, or when we will live in a
house and get some sleep. Our lives are destroyed now.
My eldest daughter wanted to become a doctor.”
Zohra, June 25th, 2022

including on behalf of Farkhunda, whose case made

Zohra spent her first decade of childhood in Pakistan,
international news after the young woman was
where her parents fled to escape threats of earlier
beaten to death by a mob. Despite facing repeated
Taliban rule around 1995. Upon returning with her
threats for her work, Zohra was committed to
family to Afghanistan years later, Zohra discovered that
advocating for women’s rights.
many girls her age were illiterate; while she had gone
to school in Pakistan, other girls had not been allowed “I realized at that time that there is no voice for
to in Afghanistan. This injustice upset Zohra, and at women and no government serving women in
fifteen years old, she established a training center in Afghanistan. In every street and every town …
a room in her house where girls could take classes in you will see violence against women.” Zohra was
subjects such as reading or math. Zohra went out of her disturbed at the way Afghan girls were devalued in
way to make house visits to some girls who were not many households. “I believe whether it’s a man or a
permitted to come to the training center to study. woman - they are all the same. I see equality, they all
deserve respect, especially women, because women
This experience inspired Zohra to think about other
experience the most difficulties and tough times in
skills girls and women could learn together, and she
Afghanistan. They suffer more than men.”
started a vocational training center for tailoring.
The group would sell the dresses they made and use In 2021, Zohra lost her father and brother at the
some of this money to support women who needed hands of the Taliban. The Taliban killed them four
months before their takeover of Kabul. Her mother in a protest at Kabul University and was badly
was killed during the August 26, 2021 ISIS-K suicide beaten up by the Taliban. She was unable to visit
attack on the Kabul Airport where crowds of Afghans the hospital for her injuries because the Taliban
who hoped to flee the country had gathered. That were there. Two days after being assaulted, Zohra
day, Zohra and her children had left the airport returned to the streets to protest.
briefly to retrieve some belongings from their home.
The following weekend, another women’s human
Upon returning, she found her mother dead from
rights defender named Tamana was broadcasting
injuries from the explosion.
on Facebook Live speaking out against the Taliban,
After the bombing, Zohra continued to protest the when the Taliban knocked on her door. Zohra and
violence and injustices of the political regime. other colleagues tried to reach Tamana, but her phone
stopped working and she disappeared, along with
Zohra participated in any protest she could find,
three other women’s rights advocates.
joining once or twice a week, protesting alongside
her children and other women; “We continued doing Knowing they were in danger, Zohra and her family
those protests, for freedom, for food, women’s rights, fled to one of their neighbors’ homes. The Taliban
for education.” This positioned her as a target for the searched their home that night and destroyed many
Taliban, who began to follow her. of the family’s possessions. They also took the sewing
machine, mannequins, and destroyed the dress
On September 22, 2021, Zohra was summoned to a
exhibition that women used to earn money.
hotel in Kabul and told she would receive a visa. She
and her daughter refused to enter the hotel, preferring From her neighbor’s house, Zohra, her husband, and
to remain outside and record their interactions on a her five children fled to Pakistan. They began living in
cell phone. After taking pictures of her documents and an encampment of 1,500 unhoused Afghan refugees
interrogating her, the officials informed her that she located near a major road in Islamabad. They live
would not receive the visa. Two officers followed their among other human rights defenders, journalists,
taxi home. After, Zohra discovered through social reporters, engineers, professors, and teachers who
media that the Taliban had killed other women who fled Afghanistan. Camp residents live under tarps
were similarly called in for investigation. and in tents, their water is unfiltered and must be
found off-site, and their food is scarce. Like countless
In the early weeks of January 2022, Zohra and her
other Afghan refugees, Zohra and her family have not
colleagues experienced escalating levels of threats
received asylum in any other country and are afraid
and violence. On January 9, 2022, Zohra organized
of being deported from Pakistan back to Afghanistan
a protest at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. At this
where they would face grave danger.
protest, a Taliban officer hit her daughter, who was
14 at the time, with a gun for filming the protest. While in the camp in Pakistan, Zohra has continued her
On January 11, the Taliban shot and killed her human rights defense work, including speaking with
friend Zainab, who participated in the protests and the media about what is happening in Afghanistan.
belonged to the minority Hazara group. During these Zohra urges women human rights defenders across the
protests, the Taliban came to Zohra’s neighborhood world to keep their attention on the situation of Afghan
and asked her neighbors for her location, but they women and hopes that soon her children will soon
kept her family’s house secure and warned Zohra have a home and access to education. 
and her husband. On January 19, Zohra participated
Two of Zohra’s daughters pause for a photograph in Pakistan.
Published 2023 by MADRE

Photography: Maureen Drennan

Design: Paul Gagner

Thank you to the Afghan women human rights defenders who shared their life stories for this book, in order
to inspire others to further the struggle for gender justice, equality, and peace in Afghanistan.

Thank you also to Laura Baron-Mendoza, Danny Bradley, Lauren Dasse, Diana Duarte, Celia Easton Koehler,
Kelsie Green, JM Kirby, and Sayed Hedayat Sadaat for interviewing, drafting, translating, and editing.

About the photographer: Maureen Drennan is a New York City-born and based photographer. Her work
has been featured in major U.S. news outlets and included in exhibitions in major museums, including the
National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. She focuses on remote places and communities that confront
vulnerabilities. She draws inspiration from her subjects and feels fortunate that people open up to her about
their lives. Maureen works with photography as a lens for understanding people and teaches at LaGuardia
Community College in New York City.

Please note, as some Afghan women human rights defenders wished to preserve anonymity, only first names
are used throughout the book, for uniformity and security reasons.