ANKARA - Afghan women are fighting for their right to life during the year since the Taliban takeover. Activist Tahmina Safa drew attention to the importance of unity of women and said, "We want to establish a struggle together with Iranian, Kurdish and Syrian women."

 

It has been a year since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan. The Taliban, which took over the administration after 20 years in the country, targeted women and their gains. While sharia laws were enforced, women were subjected to oppression and human rights violations on religious grounds. In Afghanistan, where the socio-cultural structure of the society never fully allowed women to live on an equal basis with men, with the return of the Taliban, women were banned from going out on the street without a man present, going to school and working. The name of the country, where it is no longer possible to talk about women's rights, was changed to Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Ministry of Women was renamed as "Ministry for the Prevention of Depravity". The Ministry of Women sign in the capital city of Kabul was removed and a board with the inscription "Ministry of Prevention of Immorality through Prayer, Guidance and Promoting Honor" was hung in its place. Women working at the Ministry were not allowed into the building.  

 

One by one, the doors were closed to women, to whom Sharia laws were imposed. The education of girls in the country was blocked. Facing the loss of gains, rights and freedoms gained through a tough struggle, Afghan women started to struggle for their life again. Against these attacks, many women took to the streets to stand up for their rights. The women, who are the silent screams of the country, were subjected to torture and rape under custody, arrested and murdered, and some were forced to leave the country due to lack of life security. However, the women, who did not give up despite everything, called on the international community to raise their voices by posting videos on social media as well as organising demonstrations and campaigns for Afghan women.

 

Activitst Tahmina Safa , who is still in Afghanistan and continues her struggle against the Taliban, evaluated the past year and their struggle to the Mesopotamia Agency (MA). 

 

'THERE IS A PLACE CALLED AFGHANISTAN..'

 

Stating that women's tireless struggle against the Taliban continues, Safa called for solidarity with the international community. Emphasizing that women are resisting to defend their rights and their basic human rights, Safa said that this resistance continues without fear, despite the fact that women are being detained, arrested, raped and killed. Stating that they are trying to raise their voices to be heard, Safa said, “There is a place called Afghanistan in one distant corner of the world. Women and children live there and they should have human rights too. We appeal to peoples all over the world. Join us in this fight and make our voices heard. Defend women in Afghanistan."

 

WOMEN ARE RAPED IN DETENTION

 

Stating that with the fall of Afghanistan, women lost all their rights and they started protesting because they could not even go to work anymore, Safa said, “We started protests in different cities. Unfortunately, the women in Mazar-i-Sharif were captured by the brutal Taliban. According to the information we have obtained, the women detained in Mazar-i-Sharif were not held in legal places like police stations, but in private prisons where the Taliban militias made. These women, who were held in the private prisons they set up underground and in the basements, were subjected to rape by the Taliban militia. Some of these women were killed by men in their own families after being released from custody, because they were raped."

 

'IT USES ALL ITS POWER AGAINST WOMEN'

 

Reminding that the women took to the streets on the day the Taliban entered Kabul (August 15), Safa said, “They hold a grudge against us and try to take revenge because of these actions. First Tamara, then other women in groups were detained. Recently, 40 more women have been detained. Many of the women in Kabul were tortured and beaten in detention. No woman is safe in Afghanistan. The Taliban are using all their power to threaten and oppress women."

 

Stating that the Taliban threatens women in every way, including in social media, Safa said that women are taking actions for their right to education and work. Safa said, “While demanding that they open schools, we are also calling for women in Afghanistan to take action. We lost our initial power, but we are trying to raise our voices again. The path we take risks being threatened, tortured, beaten, imprisoned and killed. In all demonstrations, they fire into the air and attack us with panzers and pepper spray. They beat us with gun butts, many women's shoulders and arms are broken. In all these demos, the Taliban took our photos to blacklist us. They slapped the women who tried to record our protests and hit them with the butts of their guns."

 

'THEY RAIDED OUR LIBRARY'

 

Emphasizing that girls are prohibited from going to school after the 6th grade, Safa said that women continue to struggle to regain their right to education, and said that education is one of the most basic human rights. Noting that the children who receive education will not be involved in groups such as the Taliban and ISIS, Safa said that they opened courses for girls with their own means. Stating that these courses cannot replace the education received at school, Safa said that they read books with girls and discuss about it. Safa told that their reading groups were also threatened and added: "The first book we read was Ramin Kemanger's 'Street, Protest and Power'. This book describes acts of civil disobedience. We continued with this perspective. There was a library where we read books, the Taliban raided it and gave the following ultimatum to all libraries; 'If anyone helps women, if you give books or provide them space, we will arrest you and close your library.' That's why the program we started was left unfinished. However, we are trying to continue online. We get together with the girls through Whatsapp groups, have them read books and talk about them.”

 

POVERTY SKY-ROCKETED

 

Safa said that women were forced to do bad jobs, like fortune telling and selling stuff on the street, Safa told that there were women's shelters before but Taliban raided them and kicked women out of them. Safa said: "We don't know much about what they are going through. We do not know how to look for them, there is no such mechanism. We do not know whether these women are left on the street, returned to their homes where they were subjected to violence, or committed suicide. Many women came from small villages to the cities and worked. With the Taliban, many of these women had to return and these women were taking care of their families. The removal of women from the business life caused women's poverty to peak. Some of these women had to sell their daughters. Unfortunately, this situation was not reflected in the international press but we see them every day. These women had to sell their daughters as a commodity. They had to sell their own organs. Many people sold part of their livers and kidneys. Women who used to work are now begging on the streets. There are a terrible number of beggars and they are all women."

 

CALL TO INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC 

 

Stating that going out on the streets has become even more difficult, Safa continued: "We want to strengthen and renew our struggle. Pressure and threats have increased a lot, but we will not allow them to silence us. We expect support from the people of the world, not from governments. Let's not let them lay a red carpet before Taliban. Help us. Make our voices heard. Let's prevent these barbarians from being recognised internationally. The Taliban is a barbaric tribe founded on misogyny. They want to integrate this foundation into the essence of Afghanistan. What has happened so far may sound terrible to you but we Afghan women know the Taliban very well. They haven't shown their true colors yet. They are trying to make themselves look cute in the international arena. If they are recognized, then we will all see what the Taliban is.

 

SOLIDARITY WITH THE WOMEN OF THE MIDDLE EAST

 

All Middle Eastern women should be in solidarity. Iranian women, Kurdish and Syrian women have been fighting for their rights for years. We want to benefit from the experiences of the women there. We want to unite in our fight for freedom. We want them to defend us, and we want to defend them. We women in Syria, Iran, the whole Middle East must be each other's voices. The unity of women increases our strength against governments. These governments have taken over religion and are using this power against the people. They disfigure and pervert religion. They are trying to oppress women using religion."

 

 

MA / Gözde Çağrı Özköse -Emel Vural