International reporting
What future for women's rights in Afghanistan?
Audio 02:33
Since the return of the Taliban to power, many Afghan women have put on the burqa and no longer dare to go out.
AP - Rahmat Gul
By: Sonia Ghezali Follow
3 mins
The daily life of Afghan women has changed a lot since the Taliban took power on August 15th.
Religious fundamentalists restricted women's rights, replaced the Ministry of Women's Affairs with one for the promotion of virtue and the suppression of vice.
Women live in fear and when they are militant, like fugitives.
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From our correspondent in Islamabad,
“
Justice!
We are tired of being like captives
,” chanted a group of feminist activists a few months ago in the streets of Kabul.
Several of them were arrested by the Taliban and held for several days before being released.
One of their activist friends who escaped arrest agreed to confide in us.
We keep his identity secret for security reasons.
“
They told me that they were treated well by the Taliban, but they say that their psychological state, their mental health is not well at all.
They say that even though they are free, they still feel like they are in prison.
This suggests that they suffered ill-treatment from the Taliban.
»
This is confirmed to us by a relative of the activists arrested on condition of anonymity, but none of these women dare to speak to the media for fear of reprisals.
The activist who confides explains to us that she lives like a fugitive.
“
My morale is not good.
I can't go out, I can't work, I'm not safe at home.
It's been over a month since I've been home.
I constantly change places of residence, I even have to go into hiding in other provinces.
»
►
To read also: Afghanistan: to continue working, women must adapt
Women's lives don't matter
She continues to campaign for women's rights.
From now on, the activists avoid the street and find themselves in apartments whose addresses they keep secret.
And film their meetings.
“
Food, work, justice,
they chant.
Freedom we are human beings
”.
Life has changed for Afghan women since the Taliban took over.
They are banned from political life, many universities, high schools and colleges are still closed to girls.
Women must be accompanied by a moharram, a chaperone of their family.
Saba, a 23-year-old journalist in Kabul, says she has never felt so vulnerable.
She lives alone with her 22-year-old sister.
“
I have never felt so weak like this before.
It's from an event I had last week.
I sent my sister to the province of Zabul with my maternal uncle to collect her passport there.
And they refused to give it to her because there was no father or brother with her, she
explains
.
And I feel so weak because I can't do anything to help my sister.
Our father is dead and our brother is very young, he is a minor.
What I see is that women's lives don't matter to these people, they don't even consider us human beings.
»
In the streets of Kabul, women who once let their hair stick out from under their veils are rarer.
Some still dare to secretly tag feminist slogans on the walls of the capital, taking the risk of being arrested.
►
To read also: In Afghanistan, worrying disappearances of women activists
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