UK-based Afghan writer pleads for country’s ‘abandoned’ women

London, August 15 — Afghan journalist Zahra Joya has expressed her concern over the plight of women in her country under Taliban rule, stating that they are "fighting alone" against discrimination and feel abandoned by the world. Joya, a 34-year-old founder of Rukhshana Media, left Afghanistan in 2021 after the Taliban movement regained power.

The fifth anniversary of that day has been a heavy and difficult time for her, as she cannot bear the thought of the Taliban celebrating their own sorrow in Afghanistan. Joya, a member of the Hazara ethnic minority, which has historically faced significant discrimination in Afghanistan, recalled the shocking and terrifying experience of August 15, 2021, when she had to flee her home.

Shortly after her escape, she found herself in prison within her own house, realizing that the Taliban's first act against women was to order them to stay home.

Joya left Afghanistan five years ago, never imagining that she would have to flee her homeland. Upon arriving in Britain, she was met with a harsh reality: her dignity, identity as a woman, gender, career, and ethnicity as a Hazara woman were considered wrong by the Taliban. Throughout her childhood, Joya lived under the previous Taliban administration, where girls' education was officially banned.

To attend school, she disguised herself as a boy using the boy's name Muhammad, taking boy clothes and cutting her hair short. Upon the Taliban's return to power in 2021, high schools and universities were closed to women and girls over the age of around 12, while imposing numerous rules on women's access to public life. This is the only country in the world where girls' education is banned after primary school.

In Britain, Joya continues to work with journalists who remain in Afghanistan, operating in secrecy due to personal security risks. She recently collaborated with The Guardian, asking Afghan women about their daily lives, with most responding that they are "surrounded by four walls." Joya, a by-fellow at the University of Cambridge, recently published a memoir, "The Vanishing Girl of Kabul," detailing her life story and the fate of Afghan women.

She urges the world to provide solidarity and support to Afghan women, urging them to share their stories, be heard, and hold their governments accountable in their dealings with the Taliban.