The blue burqa wrapped from head to toe is airtight, and the outside world seen through the mesh is vague and limited.
In the years of Taliban rule, once Afghan women reached the age of 13, they would be driven into a secluded burqa. They will get married and give birth in their teens, fulfill the mission of mothers and wives, are not allowed to go out alone, forbid contact with men, participate in sports, publicity, and hide out of national politics and social life.
“I was born when they left, and may die when they return.” Azada, who was born in 2001, told Phoenix Weekly with a trembling voice. Since the Taliban’s occupation of the capital Kabul, Afghan women like Azada have been extremely worried that they will be driven back into a closed and imprisoned life.
Although the Taliban insist that they will not impose the strict restrictions that followed the Islamic Code two decades ago. However, several young Afghan women who spoke to Phoenix Weekly believe that the Taliban’s words are simply not credible. “They just learned to pretend to fool the world. Although they believe in Islam, they will still kill people who claim to be Muslims. They will also blow up mosques and close universities.” They all said that Afghan women will soon usher in politics and Retrogression in education and social rights.
Unlike the Afghan women of their ancestors, the girls of Azada’s generation have tasted freedom. They can wear brightly colored clothes, receive education, choose work, exercise on weekends, sit in cafes, and talk about movies with friends. They can no longer bear the retrogression of civilization, but under the pressure of power, they now only feel powerless and angry.
UN Secretary-General Guterres expressed concern about the future of Afghan women and girls. “I am particularly concerned about reports that violations of the human rights of Afghan women and girls are increasing, and they are afraid of returning to the darkest days.” Guterres emphasized that protecting the hard-won rights of Afghan women and girls is of utmost importance.
Today, domestic television programs in Afghanistan, including Turkish and Indian soap operas, have been replaced by Islamic programs. In beauty salons, tailor shops, and plastic surgery centers, shopkeepers remove photos of female models from external walls and paint advertisements covered with female words. In more remote places, some girls were forced to marry Taliban armed members, and some girls desperately climbed into overcrowded planes and fled abroad.
The only way Azada can protect himself is to hide at home and not take to the streets-now, women are gradually disappearing on the streets of Afghanistan.
“My childhood nightmare is back”
After the Taliban captured Kabul, there were almost no women in the streets. Since August 15th, Azada has not dared to go out. Through the window, he can see Taliban soldiers with turbans and beards wearing weapons on the street.
In recent days, food prices in Kabul have generally risen by about 30%, and thousands of people are unemployed, including Azada. At the age of 20, she is the founder of a local clothing brand. The target customers are mainly young women. She designs clothes with bright colors and smart styles. The return of the Taliban undoubtedly sentenced Azada to death for his business. In addition, a fundraising project she set up for local orphans also died due to the shutdown.
Currently, all media in Afghanistan-including the famous TOLO TV-are under the control of the Taliban. Azada told Phoenix Weekly that she did not believe the local media reports because “they only talk about positive news about the Taliban, not negative news.”
She was trapped in the house and could only constantly use her mobile phone and watch the news. “Now it’s like in a dream. We can still use mobile phones and TV. It’s like the last sweetness given to us before destroying us.”
Although in interviews with Western media, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen repeatedly emphasized that women can live freely under Taliban rule. “They should not be afraid,” he said. “They have the right to education and work. We are committed to this.”
“The Taliban want the world to see that they have received a certain degree of enlightenment and are more modern and open. But this is just a show and a political plan.” Azada said. At the same time, Taliban soldiers are entering residents’ housing complexes to search for and arrest people. “They confiscated all weapons to prevent people from joining the resistance.”
On the streets of Kabul, a man used a paint roller to paint and cover the wallpaper printed with a woman wearing a green dress, jewellery and makeup. Another woman tore off an advertisement outside the beauty salon. The advertisement featured two Afghan women who were not wearing burqa.
On August 16, Aisha Ahmad received a call from an American friend who said that the US would use military aircraft to take some people out of Afghanistan. She immediately went to Kabul International Airport-this is the only exit route left by the Taliban. Thousands of people wandered the airport and wandered on the airstrip.
Most people rushed to the plane without passports and without security checks. Security personnel pushed the crowd back to the ground, and some women and children were pushed to the ground. Aisha was also pushed aside. “I thought this was the end of my life. I felt like I was going to die.” Later, she finally got out of the crowd, her feet covered with tramp marks.
Tilda, a female university student who lives in Kabul, wanted to go out, but didn’t know what to wear. She told Phoenix Weekly that if she wanted to be safe, she had to change into a burqa; however, she was not prepared for this situation, either mentally or physically, and had to stay at home in the end.
Tilda is a member of a local charity organization and has been searching for and helping Afghan girls who have been deprived of their personal rights throughout Afghanistan. Now, she dare not speak up on social media for fear of retaliation. This is because the Taliban have announced that they will execute women who are eloquent and politically influential.
Afghanistan’s youngest female mayor, 27-year-old Zarifa Ghafari, confessed to the media painfully: “The Taliban will come first to kill people like me. I can’t leave my family. I sit here and wait for them.” . Gafari became the youngest female mayor of Wardak Province in Maidan, Afghanistan in 2018 and was assassinated by the Taliban three times. Her general father was also shot dead at the end of last year.
According to the Times of India, on August 18, Salima Mazar, the first female governor of Afghanistan, was arrested by the Taliban. She is one of only three female governors in the country. As the governor of Hazara province, she refused to flee like some other governors and resisted the Taliban stubbornly. Until the fall of Kabul, the area under her jurisdiction was still one of the few areas in Afghanistan not occupied by the Taliban. Because she has been vocally criticizing the Taliban, people worry that she will be executed.
“It’s too early to talk about what the Taliban will do in the future. But in the past few days, the Taliban closed all schools in remote areas of Afghanistan, asking people not to shave and not let women and girls go out. In fact, no woman dared to go out of the house. .” Roya, who works in the education department, told Phoenix Weekly.
One month ago, on July 12, a woman named Najia was brutally killed by the Taliban in a small village in Faryab province in northern Afghanistan. When Taliban soldiers knocked on the door, Nagia was staying at home with her four children (three boys and one girl). They came three days ago and asked her to cook for as many as 15 fighters.
Nagya’s daughter said, “My mother said,’Our family is very poor, what should I give you to cook for you?’ The Taliban began to beat her.” Later, her mother was beaten to death. Before leaving, the Taliban sent a police officer to the next door. A grenade was thrown in the room.
“I’m afraid I will be raped and killed.” said Kubra Behroz, a former female soldier in Afghanistan and mother of two. In 2011, she proudly joined the Afghan government army. Since 2010, the Afghan government has initiated activities to recruit female soldiers into the army, which was supported by the international community at that time.
In recent weeks, there has been a marked increase in anonymous threatening calls received by Cobra. “They told me that they knew how to find me… They would kill me and my family.” In fact, since she became a female soldier, various threats have continued. During a work out in 2014, Kubu Ra’s home was broken into and looted.
“My childhood nightmare is back,” said Ameneh, a 32-year-old Afghan woman. After the Taliban took Kabul by lightning, she took all the important documents with her mother and sisters and went to a friend’s house. “We are worried that the first person to appear at my door will be my uncle.”
Twenty years ago, the 12-year-old Amina was forced to be engaged to an adult cousin with a beard and moved into the house of her uncle, a businessman who had business dealings with the Taliban. After the US military entered Afghanistan, her uncle lost as the Taliban power declined, so she sought a chance to escape from his uncle’s house. With the support of her mother, she appealed to the civil court and cancelled the child marriage contract. Since then, she went to school, went to business, and actively spoke out for local women’s rights issues.
“Twenty years ago I took off my burqa.” Amina said tearfully. “I will never accept this humiliation again, and I will not be forced to marry anyone again.”
For twenty years, there have been women representatives in all fields in Afghanistan
Back in 2001, the U.S. military launched an all-out attack, and it only took two months for the Taliban to declare their surrender in Kandahar. Subsequently, the United States single-handedly fostered an “interim government”. Karzai served as the chairman of the interim government. He was elected as Afghanistan’s first elected president three years later.
Since then, restrictions on women have been gradually liberalized, and many international organizations have also actively helped improve the living conditions of local women. In 2009, the Afghan government passed the Law on the Elimination of Violence against Women, criminalizing rape, beating and forced marriage, and stipulating that it is illegal to prevent women or girls from working or studying.
“In the past 20 years, whether it is art, politics, business, film, music…Afghan women in all fields are very active.” Tilda told Phoenix Weekly that her family had immigrated to Pakistan before, and she was also in 2001. Then he returned to Afghanistan and grew up here.
The biggest change is that women are allowed to receive education and work. In government agencies, women also have a place. Azada’s grandmother was educated, and her mother was also a law student, and her profession was a teacher. “They all work hard and have the opportunity to lead to a better future.” Under the influence of his family, Azada also received education and went to university. Created his own clothing brand.
Outstanding and courageous women also frequently appear in Afghan politics. Faziya Kufi is the first female speaker in the history of Afghanistan. She participated in the 2014 Afghan presidential election. She is particularly concerned about the education and safety of local women, and believes that women must acquire skills, talents and skills and actively participate in the country’s political and social affairs. Faziya told all Afghans that freedom is not bestowed by God and needs people to strive for it.
In addition, women’s sports have flourished. At the Tokyo Olympics not long ago, 25-year-old Yusofie Kimia, a female sprinter, represented Afghanistan with a score of 13.29 seconds, which is 0.73 seconds higher than the Rio Olympics five years ago, setting the Afghan women’s 100-meter record. . Now, I don’t know if she can wear the glory headband printed with “Afghanistan” and wave the Afghan flag to participate in the Paris Olympics three years later, or any international women’s event.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Afghan sprinter Tamina Kosistani once said that it is a miracle for Afghan women who face huge secular pressure to participate in the Olympics. She also hopes to launch the “Afghan Women’s Movement” to encourage more women to participate in sports.
In the field of music, the most famous is the female rock band Burka Band. “My mom wears burka, and my dad wears it too. I must wear burka, burka blue bukka. The sky in Kabul is also blue.” Burka’s first single “Burka Blue (blue cloth) Card)” was released at the beginning of the band’s establishment in 2003, satirizing the imprisonment of the Buka Burqa on Afghan women. This band is not only loved by the people of Kabul, but also has an audience from all over the world.
They have been wanted by the Taliban for nearly two decades. But because they have been performing in burqa and their identities are mysterious, the Taliban have not been able to catch them so far. In 2003, their single went viral in Germany. The Afghan government asked Germany to provide relevant information, and they had to go into hiding. In 2010, the band returned again and released the second music MV “No Burka”.
Afghan female directors and female films have also received international attention. A few days ago, Afghan female director Sahre Karimi wrote to the world a distress letter to swipe the Chinese social network. She is the first woman in the history of Afghanistan to receive a doctorate in film and the first female president of the Afghan Film Association. Due to the constant wars and security threats from terrorists, it took up to three years for Karimi to shoot a work in Afghanistan. She moved almost every month to avoid hunting down.
But Karimi has always had the deepest concern for women in the country. In 2019, the film “Women of Kabul” directed by her premiered at the Venice Film Festival and won 25 international film awards. In addition, “The Afghan Woman Behind the Steering Wheel” records the life of an Afghan female driver, “Angel” shows the kindness and tenacity of female midwives in the Bamyan Mountains, and “Parika” tells about a political woman in the hegemony of male power. The hardships of groping.
In all areas of social life in Afghanistan, more and more women are seen. From 2012 to 2016, a total of 1,189 women in Kabul obtained driver’s licenses. Today, Kabul has opened many health clubs, among which women’s boxing is very popular. A martial arts club from China accepted many female students in Kabul, and they learned Shaolin martial arts.
Hidden behind a high wall on the outskirts of Kabul is a skateboarding school called Skateistan. The school is the first skateboarding school in Afghanistan, founded by the Australian Oli, officially opened in December 2009. The school has carefully prepared various skateboarding facilities for some poor children (especially girls) in the local area. In addition, they can also learn English and computer courses for free in the school.
Despite these female role models and progress, it is undeniable that Afghan women are still the most oppressed by patriarchy and religion in the world, and women’s rights organizations in Afghanistan are still being suppressed and persecuted by the Taliban and even the government.
Liu Yi, a Chinese journalist who has been to Afghanistan several times, believes that female role models who fight for the rights and interests of local women require a lot of social resources, and many of them are members of vested interest groups. Faziya, who was born in a political family, can often go abroad and drive freely on the streets. King Mohammed Zahir’s cousin can also open training schools to help ordinary women, but if the people they help make this kind of appeal, they are likely to be beaten to death by their husbands long ago, and they often fail.
“Afghan women, especially those who are well-educated, when they find that their country and society are not good for their personal development, they are likely to find a way to immigrate.” Liu Yi said.
Since 2005, Afghan women are no longer required to wear a burqa and can only wear a headscarf in public. But outside the capital, many women still dare not take off their burqa.
The current literacy rate in Afghanistan is 43%, higher than the 31.4% in 2011, but it is still one of the countries with the lowest literacy rate in the world. According to data from the World Bank, the country’s gender gap is still large, with a male literacy rate of 55% and a female literacy rate of 30%. Female labor participation rate is 38%, but wages are only one-third of men’s. In addition, 57% of Afghan women were married before the legal age of 16, and 70%-80% of marriages were forced.
“Every time I see the Taliban, I think of my friend who was killed in the bombing”
In recent days, Azada’s grandmother and mother have been encouraging her not to be too pessimistic, but she can see the worry in their eyes. “When I was growing up, I felt gender discrimination many times. But now, I am grateful for those days. The Taliban are back and I cannot even be called a human in society.”
Azada was born in 2001, when the Taliban had just left Kabul, ending the previous five years in power. From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban imposed strict teachings on women, including: prohibiting work and study; going out must wear a head-to-toe burqa, and must be accompanied by men who are related to them. If you violate the relevant regulations, you will be beaten and abused.
Women are also forbidden to use cosmetics; flared pants; loud laughter; high heels are forbidden; brightly colored clothes are forbidden; unaccompanied taxis are forbidden; radio, television or any public meeting is forbidden to show their faces; even at home The windows are compulsory not to be transparent, so that women cannot be seen from the outside.
In addition, businesses also prohibit photographing women, and female models cannot appear in photos or videos; the Taliban regime has also revised the naming of streets or squares that contain women’s words, such as changing “women’s garden” to “spring garden”; neither are women It is possible to conduct transactions with male businessmen, to prohibit treatment by male doctors, and to prohibit sharing buses with men.
Once a woman is accused of having sex outside of marriage (even if she is raped), she will be put to death in public. These harsh teachings have survived to this day. In 2012 alone, there were 240 honorary murders in Afghanistan. Honorary murder refers to the murder of family members by the murderer in order to save the family honor. The victims are mostly women. The main reasons for the murder are rape, suspected adultery, fashionable dressing and frivolous behavior, and refusing to be appointed marriage.
Linsey Addario, the author of “Love and War” and an American photographer, visited Kabul in 2000. She recalled that all weddings in Kabul were cancelled. There were few cars on the road, no music, television, or telephone. , And no one chats on the sidewalk. The dusty streets are crowded with widows who have lost their husbands in the long war: they are forbidden to work and the only way to survive is to beg. Whether it is indoors or outdoors, people are scared.
At the risk of being executed, many women taught girls in their basements and schools closed by the Taliban. After being expelled from the Taliban, some female teachers simply called female students to run private schools at home to teach them science and cultural knowledge, and to the outside world they claimed that the girls were here to be female red and learn the Quran.
“The rule of the Taliban changed Kabul from a war-torn city to a dead city.” Faziya said. Born in 1976, she personally experienced this period. In her autobiography “I Don’t Want You to Die to Nothing”, she recorded all the details at that time.
The most horrible thing is the “Department of Vice and Virtue.” Men with insufficient beards and women with insufficient robes are taken here to be punished. The frightened Kabul woman was accused of immorality and was tried by a mullah from a conservative village in southern Afghanistan. Kabul and these villages have always been two worlds culturally and socially. Nowadays, women with college diplomas have to be criticized by illiterate people who don’t take a bath and can’t read.
She once recorded a scene: a couple walking on the street pushing a bicycle, and his wife was dressed in traditional clothing, Charva Kmiz. Three Taliban came over suddenly, attacked her from behind, and lashed her head desperately with a whip. She was beaten to the ground soon. When the three men started beating her husband, in order to protect himself, the man even divorced his wife on the spot. “In the eyes of the Taliban, there are only two kinds of people, either you are a member of them, or you are not.” Faziya said.
Young girls are deprived of their most basic rights. They can no longer feel the warmth of the sun at will, because as soon as they hear the voice of the Taliban, they immediately sneak into the house and dare not stay longer.
The best Emmy documentary “The World Under the Burqa” recorded women in Afghan prisons at that time. “Fleeing from her husband” is sentenced to 7 years in prison; “fleeing from the family” is sentenced to 10 years in prison. A female prisoner even said that she didn’t mind staying in prison for a few more years, because the prison is safer than the outside world.
Aisha, a 16-year-old Afghan girl, was forced to marry a Taliban soldier and was caught after escaping. Her husband cut off her nose and ears. Later, she fled to the United States. With the help of a foundation, she successfully underwent cosmetic surgery and was finally able to show her full face. The photo of her nose cut off and face mutilated appeared on the cover of Time magazine in August 2010, making the world‘s atrocities against the Taliban speechless.
“All these are executed in the name of Allah, but I absolutely don’t believe that this is the will of Allah. I dare say that even if Allah sees it, he will hide his face and cry.” Faziya wrote in her autobiography.
In recent years, Taliban leaders have repeatedly declared that under their rule, women will enjoy equal rights, including the right to work and education. But in fact, since the beginning of peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government last year, women working in journalism, medical care, and law enforcement have been killed in waves of attacks.
On November 2, 2020, a group of militants detonated a bomb at Kabul University, killing 19 people and injuring 22 others. Good friends of Azada and Tilda were killed in the attack.
Their dead friends were enrolled in the School of Public Policy at Kabul University. Most of them were in the last semester of courses. They were supposed to be future judges and politicians. “I never believe in the Taliban. Every time I see them, I think of those friends who were killed.” Tilda said.
According to UNHCR statistics, since the end of May this year, 250,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Afghanistan, 80% of whom are women and children. Since the beginning of this year, about 400,000 civilians have been forced to leave their homes. Prior to this, as of the end of 2020, the number of Afghans displaced in various parts of the country had reached 2.9 million.
“I will still fight for my rights in the future”
In 2014, the female director Karimi was asked by the media whether it would be possible to return to the Taliban in the future when girls were forbidden to go to school and women were excluded from social activities.
She was optimistic when she just stepped out of campus, “I don’t believe that history will repeat itself in Afghanistan. In the past ten years, people have tasted freedom. You can sit in a coffee shop freely and chat about current affairs. Movies, people will not easily allow others to put themselves in shackles again.”
Now that the Taliban are making a comeback, many women are unable to predict the future direction and can only gradually adjust their food, clothing, housing and transportation in fear.
In Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city, according to a report by the Spanish Daily on August 18, female students wearing white headscarves and black coats have returned to the school in Herat. They are excited to continue their studies. Endless. A female student said in an interview: “We want to progress with other countries. We look forward to the Taliban’s safety. We love peace and don’t want to go to war.” The principal of this school said that she can open the school quickly. And feel relieved.
Compared with other more conservative regions, Herat, which is close to the Iranian border, has always been one of Afghanistan’s most cosmopolitan cities. However, according to a local university professor, after the Taliban seized control of Herat, she deliberately chose a dark robe when she went out to work. Just last week, she wore a brightly colored cloak. He covered his head with a scarf casually, with a light makeup on his face.
“When the Taliban entered the university, the security guard at the entrance told me,’Women are not allowed to enter for the time being’.” The professor said that she was told that the Taliban would not deduct her salary for absent class, but would decide later whether a woman was a woman. You can enter the university.
“Can we continue to complete our studies? Will there be teachers teaching? If the campus is reopened, there will obviously be some new rules.” A female student from Kabul University told Phoenix Weekly, she heard that men and women will be separated for classes. Boys are taught by male teachers, while girls are taught by female teachers. “The problem is that there are not many outstanding female teachers in Afghanistan, especially in universities. If this is done, the quality of education for girls will inevitably be affected.”
There are also rumors that if women are allowed to enter universities, they will not be able to study economics and law, and will only be allowed to study pharmacy.
“I’m still waiting, although I don’t know what I’m waiting for.” The female student said that she had dreamed of opening a clothing company, but now it seems to be in vain. But she said that she will fight for her rights in the future. “We are the generation of war. We live, burn, bleed and die in battle.”
In desperation, some women began to consider fleeing their homes. Azada also considered fleeing, but all commercial flights are currently grounded and she has nowhere to go.
“I feel like I’m in a tunnel. It’s not completely dark, but I don’t see the possibility of a brighter one. I don’t know how long this tunnel is. I can only say that let us look forward to a better situation and don’t completely give up hope.” Aisha, who failed to escape from the airport, told Phoenix Weekly.
The female soldier Kubla said that she would flee to Pakistan with her family. “We don’t have passports and we can only try to cross the border illegally.” This seems to be a repeat of history. As early as 1990, Kubu was only 6 years old. Ra had fled their hometown with their parents. At that time, they escaped from the civil war in Afghanistan and the rise of the Taliban. And now, it was her turn and her children to go through it all.
Even if they go abroad, their pain will not disappear with it. The 22-year-old Hess was only a few months old when she left Afghanistan. She grew up in Iran and is now a karate coach. Several times she wanted to return to her motherland, but she gave up because she was worried about insecurity. “My father said that the Taliban will never make our country safe. So I hate them.” Hess said.
Sarah, 16, also came to Iran with her father when she was 4, but her grandparents and other relatives still live in Afghanistan. She said that all Afghans are extremely disturbed at this moment and hope that the country can return to calm as soon as possible. “I am afraid that when someone asks me’Which country do you come from?’ I have no answer.”
(Gao Yunqian and Liu Ning also contributed to this article. At the request of the interviewees, Tilda, Azada, and Luo Ya are all pseudonyms)