“Being a woman is not a crime, so I know I have to be strong”

“I’m a former employee of the Department of Women’s Affairs in Takhar, where I worked as a manager before the Taliban came to power. I became unemployed after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban. 

While with the Department of Women’s Affairs, I travelled to different parts of Takhar, talked to women and helped girls whose families wanted to force them into marriage, to make sure they were aware of their rights and could study, and I was very successful in this work. I felt very happy and successful that I had been able to help many fellow women and girls.  

But after 15 August 2021, the situation changed completely and I could no longer help the girls in remote areas of Takhar. A day before the fall, they called us and said not to go in to work tomorrow and from that day until now I have never returned to my office.  

After taking over, the Taliban announced that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs was abolished and replaced by the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.  

I had no choice but to leave Afghanistan for Germany. But when I arrived in Germany, I settled with my husband and three children in one of the migrant camps, but the situation was not much better than in Afghanistan. There was mistreatment by the guards, a lack of a suitable living environment, and uncertainty about what future awaited my children and I, which made me even more anxious.  

After three months in Germany, I decided to return to Afghanistan again, but I did not have enough money for this. I asked several charities for help but did not receive any cooperation. I had no choice but to borrow a lot of money in my husband’s name from one of his friends and return to Afghanistan.  

I now live in Afghanistan again with my husband and children. I’m unemployed and my mind is entangled in thousands of problems, but I have not lost hope yet. I am waiting for this nightmare to end and for things to be like they were before.  

I ask the international community not to leave women alone, especially in the remote areas of Afghanistan.”