Afghan women ‘risk their lives to tell their stories’ amid media crackdown

What you probably already know: Local media outlets in Afghanistan were caught in the Taliban’s crosshairs when the U.S. withdrew from the country in 2021. Journalists who are critical of the regime face violence, intimidation, arrest, and censorship, often leading to forced exile. The International Federation of Journalists reported last year that nearly 80% of women journalists had lost their jobs and those who appear on TV are required to cover their faces. In one case, three radio journalists were detained over allegations of broadcasting calls from female listeners, thus putting others at risk of “moral corruption.”

Why? Afghanistan’s de facto authorities have tried various media strategies since first rising to power in the mid-1990s. Entertainment, photography, music, and the internet were banned during the Taliban’s first regime and the flow of information to Afghan citizens was carefully controlled. After the U.S. invaded, the Taliban started reframing itself as a “nationalist” Islamist group to resonate with a broader audience, spreading online propaganda and recruiting sympathizers through social media and messaging apps. After seizing Kabul in 2021, the Taliban pandered to the international community by trying to appear more reasonable, inclusive, transparent, and safe. In reality, the group controls all national media and heavily censors information from external sources.

What it means: Monitoring human rights violations in Afghanistan has grown increasingly difficult for watchdog organizations like Rawadari. Executive Director Shaharzad Akbar said that monitoring the women’s rights situation is additionally complicated because women are confined to their homes. “It is very risky for women to share their testimonies,” Akbar said. “The Taliban wants to shut off any relationship between women and the outside world and if it were not for the bravery of women who risk their lives to tell their stories, we would know very little about the lives of women in Afghanistan right now.”

What happens now? Akbar, who led the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission before the Taliban suspended it, is working with her colleagues in exile to strengthen the human rights movement in Afghanistan. Together, they’ve published 12 reports in three languages and are advocating for Taliban leaders (and other human rights violators) to be held accountable by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Akbar encourages people around the world to stand in solidarity with Afghan women in one of these ways:

• Amplify their demands for justice and accountability

• Follow Afghan media and organizations

• Lobby governments against recognizing the Taliban

• Challenge the perception that the Taliban’s repression aligns with Islam and Afghan culture

• Advocate for universities to offer scholarships for Afghan women and girls

• Pressure world leaders to offer safe resettlement pathways for at-risk human rights defenders

Read more in our series on the state of women in Afghanistan:

‘Strongly worded statements’ won’t do anything to save women from Taliban

How one young woman escaped the Taliban in pursuit of education

Afghan women got the right to vote before women in the U.S. What happened?

Taliban leaders get a pass as treatment of women gets worse