Afghan Women under the tyranny of the misogynist fundamentalists


Medieval restrictions imposed by Taliban on Afghan women since Aug.2021

An overview on the situation of Afghan Women
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Some of the restrictions imposed by Taliban on women (1996-2001)
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Afghan women in chains of the brutal fundamentalists
  • July 10, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Who is the real Zarifa Ghafari?
    Zan Times: Zarifa Ghafari had arguably one of the toughest jobs in the world: being a female mayor in Afghanistan. But, aside from that political role, Zan Times discovered that some of Ghafari’s claims about her life, education, and experiences contained contradictions and inconsistencies. Zan Times discovered that even basic information, such as her place of birth, is inconsistent across the media. According to her memoir, she was born in Kabul. A piece published by Vanity Fair in March 2023 reports that she was born in Paktia province. However, back in 2018, she told Afghanistan’s EtilaatRoz that she was “born in Maidan Wardak.”      Full news...

  • July 8, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    As Afghan schools remain closed for girls, mental health crisis builds
    The Washington Post: Afghanistan’s primary mental health facility in Kabul has filled with patients who say they are experiencing a different kind of suffering, he said. With the Taliban leadership severely restricting female education and work, there are mounting concerns about the mental health of girls and women. The restrictions and “sudden changes,” said Azim, appear to be at the root of the trauma suffered by most women and girls now seeking help at this hospital.      Full news...

  • July 4, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban order closure of beauty salons for women in Afghanistan
    The Guardian: The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered beauty salons to close within a month, the morality ministry said, in the latest shrinking of access to public places for Afghan women. “The deadline for the closing of beauty parlours for women is one month,” Mohammad Sadiq Akif, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue, said on Tuesday, referring to a ministry notice.      Full news...

  • June 28, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghanistan’s widows left in misery under Taliban rule
    EFE: Without a husband or grown-up sons to go out and earn in a highly orthodox and patriarchal Islamist society, widows in Afghanistan are left in a lurch, condemned to poverty on account of increasing restrictions on women by the Taliban. Fatima is the oldest of four widows in a 100 square meter house in the northern state of Kandahar, a few meters from the office of the provincial governor. The other three are her 25- and 30-year-old daughters-in-law – each with four children – and her niece, who has one child.      Full news...

  • June 26, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    UN betrays women in Afghanistan
    Tortoise media: Afghan women working for the UN in Kabul say they have been betrayed by the organisation’s failure to protect them from the Taliban’s gender apartheid. Also in today’s Sensemaker: why an opposition win in Thailand isn’t quite a win.      Full news...

  • June 21, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Plight of women and girls in Afghanistan is “worst in the world” says UN
    THE SCOTSMAN: The opposition party in Afghanistan has "strongly appealed" to the United Nations Security Council and the international community to refrain from legitimising the Taliban regime ahead of the UN’s quarterly meeting on Afghanistan. The National Resistance Council for the Salvation of Afghanistan (NRCSA) warned international authorities that recognising the Taliban as a legitimate government would be detrimental to the pursuit of peace, stability, and the rights of the Afghan people      Full news...



  • June 2, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Children bearing the brunt of Afghanistan crisis: UNICEF
    UN News: This year, some 2.3 million Afghan boys and girls are expected to face acute malnutrition. Of this number, 875,000 will need treatment for severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition. Furthermore, around 840,000 pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are likely to experience acute malnutrition, jeopardising their ability to give their babies the best start in life.      Full news...

  • May 20, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Poverty, restrictions forcing many young women to think about suicide
    SALAM WATANDAR: “We came to Kabul from Kapisa, hoping that some job would be available for us, but for now, my husband works as laborer and I am also a housewife. It is nearly impossible to pay the expenses of the house of my in-laws, which was used for our livelihood.” said Sheeba, a woman who worked as a teacher before the establishment of the Islamic Emirate. After imposition of restrictions on women, she stayed at home and her husband became unemployed at the same time.Sheeba said that she used to work as a teacher in Kapisa and with the closing of the schools, she became unemployed and now she is in confused and without a future plan. Unemployment has multiplied the pressure of life on her shoulders. “Problems of house rent and food cannot be solved. This situation hurts me and puts pressure on my soul. We have a miserable life.”      Full news...

  • May 15, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    From Torture to Sexual Assault and Murder: What’s Happening in the Taliban’s Women’s Prisons?
    8 Subh: Female prisoners in Taliban-controlled prisons in the provinces of Jowzjan, Faryab, and Samangan are enduring a deplorable situation. They face humiliation, insults, physical torture, and sexual assault. According to the findings of Hasht-e Subh Daily, since the collapse of the Republic regime, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned 90 women in the three northern provinces. Out of these, 36 women are in Faryab province, 34 women are in Samangan province, and another 20 women are in Jowzjan province. These women have been subjected to inappropriate treatment by the Taliban in prisons over the past year.      Full news...

  • May 5, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan Women tell UN rights experts ‘we’re alive, but not living’
    UN News: Following a systematic crackdown on the rights of Afghan women and girls by the Taliban – from attending school to working at the UN – “the stage may be set for multiple preventable deaths that could amount to femicide” unless restrictions are reversed rapidly, independent UN human rights experts announced on Friday, following an eight-day visit to the country.      Full news...

  • May 2, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Zarmina Resisted Sexual Assault with Bravery: A Tragic Tale of Resistance
    Hasht-e-Subh Daily: Numerous reports have surfaced over the past two years about extramarital relationships and sexual assault by Taliban commanders on young women and girls during their rule in the country. Recently, in Ghor province, a Taliban militant named Abdul Qodos attempted to sexually assault a young girl named Zarmina in her father’s house in the Saad Siah area of the city of Firozkoh, the center of Ghor province. When Zarmina resisted, Abdul Qodos shot and killed her. Reliable sources in Ghor province have confirmed these details.      Full news...

  • April 29, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan women protest in Kabul demanding the Taliban aren't recognised
    EuroNews: A group of Afghan women protested in Kabul on Saturday, defying a crackdown on dissent to urge foreign nations not to formally recognise the Taliban government ahead of a United Nations summit next week.Protesters opposing creeping curbs on women’s rights have been beaten or detained since the Taliban surged back to power in 2021, and security forces have fired into the air to disperse some rallies.      Full news...

  • April 22, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban orders women not to take part in Eid celebrations in two Afghan provinces
    The Independent: The Taliban has banned women from participating in Eid gatherings in two districts in Afghanistan ahead of widespread celebrations expected in the country to mark the end of Ramadan. Two similar notices showed local Taliban leaders in northern Baghlan district and the northeastern district of Takhar said “it is forbidden for women to go out in groups during the days of Eid ul-Fitr” on Friday. The orders are not applicable across Afghanistan, but only in the two districts.      Full news...

  • April 19, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Cracked Hands, Unbreakable Spirit: A Mother’s Journey to Educate Her Children
    Nimrokh: The sound of her calloused palms rubbing together was audible as she vigorously rubbed her hands. Seated beside a bountiful collection of freshly picked vegetables, the woman deftly tied them into neat bundles, utilizing pre-threaded strands she had set aside. Mint, onions, chives, and a variety of other vegetables were artfully stacked atop one another, each bundle a testament to her skillful craftsmanship. The small plot of land, situated within the walls of her house yard, provided a humble but plentiful harvest.      Full news...

  • April 7, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    The daily risks taken by Afghanistan’s female journalists
    Index on Censorship: Female journalists are forced to work remotely as much as possible for their own safety, and Zan Times advises them to only speak to sources who they can be sure are not linked to the Taliban. Any time they tell someone they’re a journalist, they risk being identified. For women still working as journalists in Afghanistan, safety is paramount.      Full news...

  • April 5, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    All UN staff asked to stay home after Taliban signals ban on its female workers
    Kabul Now: he United Nations has asked all its 3,300 female and male staff in Afghanistan to stay home for two days and stop working after its officials “received word of an order” by the Taliban that bans female national employees of the UN agencies from work on Tuesday. UN officials in Afghanistan “received word of an order by the de facto authorities that bans female national staff members of the United Nations from working,” the Reuters quoted the UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric as saying to reporters in New York.      Full news...

  • April 4, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Public executions and torture: ‘The Taliban have reverted to their true nature’
    Fraqnce24: In the latest example of public punishments carried out by the Taliban, two men were forced to wear a chador, a full-length hijab traditionally worn by women as a form of public "humiliation". But other punishments meted out by the Taliban have been far more violent, including flagellations and public executions. While Afghan activists have documented dozens of public punishments since October 2022, video evidence of them is scarce – only two videos document these brutal tactics.      Full news...


  • March 31, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Female Hairdressers Flee Afghanistan due to Taliban Restrictions and Poverty
    8am: In the past two decades, female beauty salons were a lucrative source of income for women and girls, who used the money to support their families and even attend college. However, since the Taliban‘s arrival on August 15, 2021, these salons have seen a sharp decline in business. Several female hairstylists have closed their salons in various districts of Herat province due to threats from the Taliban, while others have left Afghanistan because of a lack of income. Those who continue to work despite the Taliban‘s threats and warnings have reported a decrease in their business income. They have stated that, if the Taliban continue to impose restrictions on women, there will no longer be any female hairstylists left in Afghanistan.      Full news...

  • March 26, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan Women’s Protest For Education Halted In Kabul By Taliban
    Radio Liberty: At least 20 Afghan women marched in the capital, Kabul, on March 26 to demand the right to education for women and girls before being rounded up by a Taliban patrol. The demonstration comes amid UN and other international condemnation over ongoing strictures under the Taliban-led government to keep women and girls out of schools, jobs, media, and other aspects of life since the hard-line militant group took power after U.S.-led international forces left in 2021.      Full news...

  • March 23, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Education for Girls Remains a Challenge in Afghanistan as School Year Begins
    Nimrokh: As Afghanistan’s new academic year gets underway with the ringing of school bells, nearly half of the country’s students are denied the right to education. Despite the significance of Hamal 03 (March 23) as Afghanistan’s Education Day, the Taliban marked the start of the new school year on Hamal 01 (March 21) with a male-only ceremony at Amani High School in Kabul. No female teacher or student was allowed to attend the ceremony.      Full news...

  • March 8, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Women are models of freedom and social justice!
    8am: Women’s Day is being celebrated on March 8, while Afghan women are in Taliban prisons and are excluded from society every day, and the world is silent. The brave women of Afghanistan are at the forefront of the fight against international terrorism such as the Taliban. The suffering that Afghan women and girls suffer and no women in other lands have ever experienced.      Full news...

  • March 6, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan women protest outside Kabul University as male students return to class
    CNN: Young Afghan women gathered outside Kabul University on Monday to protest the ruling Taliban’s ban on female education as their male peers returned to school for a new academic year and the United Nations heard the restriction may amount to a crime against humanity. A video shared widely on social media shows a group of girls sitting on the ground outside Kabul University reading their books. CNN has not independently verified when the video was filmed.      Full news...

  • March 3, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan Woman Commits Suicide in Faryab
    8am: According to sources, it has been reported that a woman has committed suicide by hanging herself in Faryab province. Based on the information provided to Hasht-e Subh by sources, a woman aged 34 committed suicide on Thursday evening in Sahrayee Qala located in the Khwaja Sabzposh district of Faryab.      Full news...

  • February 9, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    No escape’ for Afghan girls forced out of education and into early marriage
    The Guardian: It is six weeks since the Taliban closed the door on girls’ education across Afghanistan and Zeina’s last vestiges of hope for her future died. A very different kind of life now lies ahead for the 20-year-old, a life of domestic drudgery, boredom and seclusion that she has no power to change. Since the Taliban took control in August 2021, Zeina had managed to convince her frightened family to let her stay at school. She held on to the belief that she would somehow find a way to finish her education and achieve her dream of getting a master’s in medicine. This dream has now ended.      Full news...

  • February 4, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Forced Marriage Ends Up in Tragic Suicide of Young Girl in Kunduz
    8am: According to sources, an 18-year-old girl hung herself in the Kunduz province’s capital city. The incident occurred on Monday night in the Zakhil Qadim region of Kunduz city’s third district. According to local sources in Kunduz, the young girl took her own life as a result of being forced into marriage. Her family had reportedly arranged for her engagement to a boy without her consent.      Full news...

  • January 28, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban Ban Afghan Girls From University Entrance Exam
    VOA: ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s Islamist Taliban have indefinitely barred girls from taking private university entrance exams, tightening their ban on women’s education in the country. Ziaullah Hashmi, a spokesperson for the Taliban higher education ministry, Saturday confirmed to VOA they had sent out a letter to private Afghan universities across the country ordering them not to enroll female students for the upcoming spring semester.      Full news...

  • January 23, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Girls forced to marry share their stories
    Amu TV:A research organization that asked not to be identified for security reasons said they have recorded at least 2,200 cases of forced marriages in the past year, of which 900 were girls married off to Taliban members. “I was not ready but was forced to marry” Shukria, from Balkh province, is being forced to marry after being stopped from attending university. She said her family insists she marries in order to prevent the Taliban from forcing her “to marry one of their members.”      Full news...

  • January 19, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    At least 78 people die as winter temperatures plunge in Afghanistan
    CNN: At least 78 people have died in freezing conditions in Afghanistan in the last nine days, a Taliban official said Thursday, deepening a humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people now living under the control of the radical Islamist group. Shafiullah Rahimi, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry of Disaster Management, told CNN that along with the loss of human life, more than 77,000 livestock had also frozen to death in recent days.      Full news...


  • January 12, 2023 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Seven people flogged and jailed in Daikundi after fornication accusation
    Rukhshana: Four women and three men have been flogged and sent to jail in Daikundi province after the Taliban accused them of fornication. The Taliban provincial court found the seven people guilty of having sexual relations outside of marriage, and gave them various prison sentences ranging from 10 days to one-year imprisonment. Two reliable sources told Rukhshana Media that the court hearing was on Monday January 2. The people are known as Mohammad Paikarzada, Sadruddin, Amir Hussain, Mahtab, Gultaab, Fayeza and Raihana.      Full news...

  • December 25, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban orders NGOs to ban female employees from coming to work
    CNN:The Taliban administration on Saturday ordered all local and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to stop their female employees from coming to work, according to a letter by the Ministry of Economy sent to all licensed NGOs. Non-compliance will result in the licenses of said NGOs being revoked, the ministry said. Non-compliance will result in revoking the licenses of said NGOs, the ministry said.      Full news...

  • December 21, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban ban Afghan women from university education
    The Guardian: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have ordered an indefinite ban on university education for the country’s women, the ministry of higher education said in a letter issued to all government and private universities. “You all are informed to implement the mentioned order of suspending education of females until further notice,” said the letter signed by the minister for higher education, Neda Mohammad Nadeem.      Full news...

  • December 5, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban publicly whip seven people, including a woman in Ghor
    Rukhshana Media: Seven people, including a woman, were publicly flogged by the Taliban for drinking alcohol, running away from home, and adultery in the provincial stadium in Ghor province on Sunday, December 4, local Taliban officials say. Taliban state-owned media, Bakhtar News Agency, reports that five people, including a woman accused of drinking alcohol and running away from home, were lashed 39 times while two others were lashed 27 times for adultery.      Full news...

  • November 28, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    A young woman shot dead in Balkh
    Rukhshana: Unknown gunmen shot dead a young girl in district 9 of Mazar-e-Sharif today afternoon, November 28, local sources say. According to the sources, the incident happened around 1:00 PM in Naw Abad area of the city. The victim is identified as 24-year-old Habiba Rahimi, who was a doctor in a local hospital in the province.      Full news...

  • November 25, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan Women Protesting in Kabul: “We will Never Surrender!”
    RAWANews: On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, a group of Afghan women staged protest rally in Kabul despite restriction of misogynist Taliban on such gatherings. Women were chanting slogans “Raise up for your rights!”, “Woman, Life, Unity”, “Silence is a Shame”, “We will fight for our rights” etc…      Full news...

  • November 24, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Afghan Women Protest in Kabul on Eve of UN Day Against Violence
    AlARABIYA NEWS: More than a dozen Afghan women protested briefly in Kabul Thursday, calling for their rights to be recognized on the eve of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Afghan women have been squeezed out of public life since the Taliban’s return to power in August last year, but small groups have staged flash protests that are usually quickly shut down, sometimes violently.      Full news...

  • November 23, 2022 :: RSS :: Print :: Email
    Taliban publically whip 12 people including three women in Logar
    Rukhshana: Twelve people, including three women, have been publicly whipped by the Taliban forces for alleged adultery and theft in a local stadium of Logar province, on Wednesday, November 23, Taliban local officials report.Ahamadullah Anas, the Taliban’s spokesperson for Logar police, says the Appeal Court sentenced them to 21 to 31 lashes in public. Mr. Anas says that nearly ten thousand people attended the trial.      Full news...



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Gulbar in a local hospital in Badghis province
Gulbar, an Afghan woman who was burnt by her husband in Nov.2005 (details...)

Muska a victim in so-called liberated Afghanistan
Muska, a female election worker who committed suicide after rape attempt on her in Jalalabad on Oct.9, 2004 (details...)
A woman victim of family violence
A true face of Afghan women today.
"There is a huge gap between the reality on the ground and the 'remarkable progress' claimed by western diplomats who sit in fortified compounds behind guards..." (Christina Lamb, The Sunday Times, November 5, 2006)

Women crying
Women wailing with grief as they are turned away from a funeral in Kabul in late 1994. AI
Those responsible for these killings are now in possession of power in Afghanistan and strongly supported by the US government.

An Afghan women
A woman with her child recounts how her husband was killed in Afshar, west of Kabul. Hundreds of innocent people from Hazara minority were massacred by forces of Sayyaf and Ahmad Shah Massoud in this area in 1993
Zarmeena is being excuted by Taliban
Public execution of an Afghan woman by Taliban in Kabul
Photos from a video film by RAWA (click here to view more photos and movie clips)

a victim
A victim of the fundamentalists brutalities against women
More photos


A woman who was gang-raped and then killed The Jehadi fundamentalists after gang-raping Shukria, killed her in cold-blood

Shukria d/o Ali Mardan was the mother of four children and lived in Kabul. She had a tailoring-shop. On May 22, 1993 she was on her way to Shahrara when suddenly a car braked to a halt and a group of armed-jehadi jumped out and dragged her to their car and in a minute disappeared. Her ill-fated family searched every where but in vain.... Till, after fifty-five days her blood-soaked semi-naked body was found in Khairkhana, Kabul.

Today again the Northern Alliance, the rapists and murderers of thousands of Shukrias have key positions in the new Afghan government.


Nahid killed on Feb.9, 1993 Naheed another victims of the Jehadi Fundamentalists

Thirteen-year-old Nahida Hassan became a symbol for Afghan women and girls who were raped during the two decades of war. [On Feb.9, 1993] when a commander and twenty of his troops broke into her Kabul apartment, killing her 12-year-old brother and gunning down her other male relatives, Nahida understood she was the target. To avoid being sexually savaged, she leapt from the sixth-floor window to her death. Today, there is a shrine on the spot where she fell. "Everyone knew who the commander was. But no one dared touch him," said the girl's 64-year-old grandfather, Mohammed Hassan. The commander enjoyed the protection of his party, whose fundamentalist cleric leader, Burhanuddin Rabbani, headed the government at the time and, more recently, the Northern Alliance, which holds key positions in the new interim administration.

Jan Goodwin, The Nation, April 29, 2002


WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN: A human rights catastrophe
(Amnesty International document, March 1995)


Self-immolation among Afghan Women (horrible photos)


Afghan woman, victim of terrible family violence     Victim of crime by husband     Domestic Violence against children    Self-immolations among Afghan women    Gang-rape of 12-y-old girl





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