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A group of women in Ghazni, southwest of Kabul, at the end of October: "The Taliban took everything from women," says journalist Zahra Nader
Photo: Mohammed Fausal Naweed / AFP
When the Taliban first came to power in Afghanistan in the 2001s, journalist Zahra Nader was still a child. Her family comes from the persecuted Hazara minority and had to flee to Iran, where refugee girls like Nader had little access to schooling. She says her greatest desire during this time was to learn something. It was only after the end of the Taliban government in <> that the family returned home, and Nader was able to go to school for the first time.
Twenty years later, in August 2021, the Taliban once again seized power in the country. Zahra Nader was already living in Canada to study. But what has happened in her home country since then, how the lives of local women have changed, is something that constantly occupies her. She sees how girls are once again being discouraged from learning and women from participating in public life.
Zahra Nader wants to do something about this invisibility: In August 2022, she founded the online magazine »ZanTimes« to give a voice to the more than 15 million girls and women in the country. Afghan journalists report on the everyday life of women in the country, poverty, child marriage and health care. The reports are published in Farsi and English, and the readers come mainly from Afghanistan – and from the USA, Great Britain and Germany. This is where a large proportion of refugees now live.
MIRROR: Ms. Nader, how are women in Afghanistan doing at the moment?
Nader: Millions of girls and women have been systematically forced out of public life since the Taliban took power. Girls are only allowed to go to school up to the sixth grade; Women do not go to universities. They are excluded from most professions, they are only allowed to work in the health sector or as primary school teachers. In some provinces, a woman can no longer leave the house, not even go to the doctor, without a male accompaniment. Many live like prisoners in their homes. In addition, many suffer from poverty and hunger, cannot go shopping and do not know how to provide for their children. For many Afghan women, it is true that they now have psychological problems, often suicidal thoughts. Many women are basically left to die.
MIRROR: Even before the return of the Taliban, life in Afghanistan was hard for women.
Nader: That's right. But in the 20 years before that, there was hope. Things have gotten better, slowly but steadily. Mothers worked hard to give their daughters access to education. Many women have earned their own money, which has given them independence. But now they have no power over their lives at all, the Taliban system has taken away all their freedom of action. This will have consequences for many generations.
MIRROR: What happens to women who don't abide by the Taliban's rules?
Nader: We know of reports of girls and women who were alone on the streets and were imprisoned or forced into marriage as a result. However, very few women would even think of acting against the rules. They are far too scared for that.
MIRROR: A year ago, you founded the website »ZanTimes«. The editorial team consists mainly of women. They report on the life and everyday life of women in Afghanistan. How is this possible despite all the repression?
Nader: We are about 14 journalists, half of whom live in Afghanistan. The women write under a pseudonym and have to be extremely careful with whom they talk about their journalistic work. Not even their families know what they're doing. The colleagues don't know each other. Female reporters within the country only communicate with those who are based abroad. We also only make official requests to the Taliban government from abroad. There is a great danger that female employees in Afghanistan could be exposed. We have to take all these precautions in case an employee is arrested and pressured.
MIRROR: What motivates the reporters to take such a big risk?
Nader: I admire their courage. A colleague told me, 'You know, if they lock me up, if they kill me, I'm ready. But the consequences that this would have for my family weigh heavily on me. ‹ My colleagues also take responsibility for the people they interview with them. We have to be very careful about the protection of sources. But our employees know that they are the only ones who still write about the reality of women in their home countries. This allows them to persevere, gives them strength.
MIRROR: And what drives you personally?
Nader: I feel like I owe something to the people of Afghanistan. I feel responsible. The return of the Taliban is a turning point for the country. If I, as a journalist, remain silent now, I can no longer look in the mirror with a clear conscience. I worked as a reporter in Kabul before the takeover. Even then, this was rather unusual as a woman, and I had to defend myself against many prejudices. Men looked down on me. For example, they always wanted to send me home at 17 p.m., because at that time a woman had to be at home, to cook and take care of family things. I had to assert myself.
MIRROR: Why is the work of your editorial team important?
Nader: We talk to women in rural areas, we have access that is denied to foreign media. Most of the foreign reporters who still come to the country are men. They have hardly any contact with women because the sexes are strictly separated in public and they do not have access to them in the home environment. So how are they going to interview a woman? In addition, there are areas where Afghan women only talk to local women because they feel they are more likely to be understood, for example when it comes to rape – without the research of my colleagues, most of these women's stories would be missing.
MIRROR: How do you finance the website?
Nader: At first, we were barely able to keep our heads above water. I used up my savings and we were all working unpaid. In the meantime, we receive scholarships, grants and donations.
MIRROR: When Kabul fell to the Taliban, you had already emigrated to Canada to study at York University in Toronto and earn your PhD in Gender Studies. Can you go back to your home country?
Nader: No, I can't do that for the time being. I'm being threatened, the entire editorial team is under a lot of pressure. Everything we report is repugnant to the Taliban: women's rights, the concerns of the LGBTQ community in the country. In general, the fact that working, critical, independent women are joining forces. We tell the truth – from the point of view of those affected. This is exactly what those in power are trying to prevent.
This article is part of the Global Society project
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