Amidst an abyss of darkness, she is trapped. There is no escape, no refuge. Like a migratory bird, she flits from one place to another in search of a secure haven, yet it seems there’s no sanctuary within this border and land. The enemy, like a shadow, pursues her, attempting to swallow her whole. She speaks, “I am in a constant state of escape, fearing capture and imprisonment by the Taliban. For months, I’ve confined myself within these walls. Threats force me to change my whereabouts sporadically.”
Shirin (pseudonym), is one of the protesting women. In the face of restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women’s activities in Afghanistan and the blatant violation of their fundamental rights, she voiced her dissent by participating in demonstrations and legal actions. Joining women’s protest groups in Kabul, she echoed calls for women’s rights by chanting liberating slogans on Kabul’s roads. She stood against a group that perceived women as the weaker gender.
Shirin’s life, like that of all Afghan women, has been influenced by political upheavals. Before the Taliban’s takeover, she was a student, simultaneously studying in two different fields at two universities. However, when the Taliban issued a decree prohibiting women’s education, she was deprived of pursuing her studies. These restrictions, oppressions, and injustices compelled her to protest. Like other protesting women, she had a specific goal in her endeavor and raised her voice to demand the fundamental rights that had been taken from her. She declares, “I joined the ranks of protesting women to be the voice of deprived women of Afghanistan, to convey their voices to the United Nations and human rights organizations.”
While Afghanistan has not witnessed protest movements led by men since the Taliban came to power, courageous women like Shirin have stepped forward, confronting the Taliban and demanding their rights. This group has consistently feared the growing number of female protesters and the escalation of their protests, resorting to violence against them. Shirin, too, has witnessed the Taliban’s violent behavior during the launch of their legal advocacy movements several times. She condemns their actions against women. Armed Taliban members have repeatedly attacked street demonstrations of these women, dispersing their peaceful protests through physical assault and gunfire. Subsequently, they have taken pictures for identification and pursued them. Shirin, too, has not escaped this violence and mistreatment. She recounts, “During one of the protests on a Kabul street, Taliban forces rushed towards us and attacked the women. I was beaten, sustaining injuries around my waist.”
For a while now, there has been no news of women’s protests on the roads in Afghanistan. The road has fallen silent, devoid of the voices of protesting women. The slogan “Bread, Work, Freedom” no longer echoes. Fearing arrest and torture, women protesters have shifted their gatherings to concealed locations. Though these hidden places offer relative security, the Taliban intelligence might still track and apprehend the protesters.
Shirin asserts that demanding her rights is not a crime, but the Taliban deem it so, endorsing any form of oppression and violence against them. For this reason, she fears Taliban prisons and is in constant search of a secure location. Fleeing in fear of the Taliban, she is haunted by the news of her fellow activists’ arrests and torture, further deepening her anxieties. When her uncle’s daughter is detained by the Taliban, her fear intensifies, forcing her to leave her home in pursuit of a secure place. She spends her days and nights in hidden and temporary places. Life has become bitter for months, marked by nightmares and the harsh reality that in her own country, there’s no space for normal, carefree living.
In her belief, the Taliban’s suppression aims to silence the voices of women—voices they don’t want the world to hear, concealing the crimes against humanity committed by this group in Afghanistan. They drag women into captivity and silence them in prisons.
Although fear casts a shadow over Shirin’s life, she remains resolute in her determination to continue the struggle. Emphasizing repeatedly, she declares, “I will persist in the fight against injustices.”
