For Afghan women under the Taliban, ‘home is like jail.’ Now, some are speaking out

Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, Global News spoke to women and people on the ground as the Taliban attack on women continues to escalate.

With the Taliban coming to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, for the second time in a generation, women in that country are facing the systematic removal of their rights and their access to universities, schools, and work at NGOs.

Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, Global News spoke to women and people on the ground as the Taliban attack on women continues to escalate. In some cases, names have been changed to protect the safety of the individuals in this report. The Taliban has repeatedly hunted and killed critics.

But still, some are speaking out in the hope that Canadians will not forget them.

Faramarz is an alias for a woman who says she lives in a prison called Afghanistan. She was completing her law degree and was in her last semester of university — so close to her dream of graduating, but in a blink of an eye, that goal became so far away.

“I was at home and I was working on my research and I heard on the internet that girls are banned from going to university,” she said, referencing the Taliban decision in December 2022.

“And it was very hard for me and I felt very bad and I couldn’t speak for a few minutes.”

The edict came down while she was doing research for her thesis on Dec. 20, 2022. Faramarz decided to fight against the ideology of the Taliban by participating in protests — which put her life in danger.

“They said to us, ‘If you participate again in this program, we will kill you.’”