From the dream of education to the nightmare of silence

In today’s world, where significant progress has been made in human rights and gender equality, many women around the globe enjoy their fundamental rights.

However, in some corners of the earth, there are still women and girls who are deprived of these basic rights and face various challenges every day.

Today, I want to write about the struggles of Afghan women, who continue to grapple with harsh and oppressive realities.

Life in Afghanistan has always been difficult for us, the girls, but these difficulties have intensified in recent years and taken on a harsher and more brutal form.

Even during the Republic era, there were women and girls who were confined and not allowed to participate in any social or cultural activities.

Although back then, these restrictions did not affect every girl, unfortunately, in the current situation, these limitations are like a contagious disease, spreading everywhere and affecting every woman and girl.

If this continues any longer, we will no longer have the strength to endure.

Nowadays, we can’t even walk for a few minutes in the alleys and streets without fear.

We are afraid that men with long beards, large turbans, and white robes — resembling threatening shadows — will confront us and humiliate or insult us.

We live with the constant fear that, like the day we were angrily driven away from the gates of our university, we will again face the same rage and oppression.

In Afghanistan, the problem is not just about education and schooling for women and girls.

Here, women are deprived of all human and civil rights.

They are seen as objects, and the only role allowed to them is that of a mother.

Our voices are considered shameful, and our presence in society is treated as a grave sin.

These days, the space for women is becoming smaller and more confined, pushing more and more women into hardship and despair. Their future is being played with cruelly.

For the past three years, women have been victims of extremist policies every second and every minute.

Girls have been forced into underage and arranged marriages, subjected to street harassment, and confronted with post-marriage challenges.

Every day, they are crushed under the weight of these dark realities.

Yet, there is still no glimpse of hope. Today, we see that women have become more vulnerable and feel helpless, as the pressure of daily life becomes heavier by the second. Even at home, many women and girls do not feel safe anymore.

They say they have nightmares at night and suffer from severe depression.

The Taliban treat women with violence and extremism. They consider women’s presence in society unnecessary and exclude them from all public and social spheres.

This has led to a deep sense of powerlessness and emptiness among women.

Therefore, I hope the world will not remain silent about the violation of women's rights in Afghanistan and will take serious measures in this regard.

I dream of a day when schools and universities reopen their doors to girls, when women can enjoy their fundamental human rights, and when they will no longer be victims of unfair family or societal decisions.

Writer: Latifa Danish