Name: Farima Hosseini
Region: Farah province
I am an independent woman from Farah province, a region where, during the Republic era, many women were actively pursuing education. Girls had access to schools, female doctors worked in hospitals, and people’s health concerns were addressed. Afghan women were not deprived of their basic human rights. We were not required to be accompanied by a male guardian to travel to the city. As a woman, I could travel from one city to another without needing a male escort.
However, after the Taliban’s return, they stripped us of even the most basic human rights. Under the guise of religion and Sharia, they imposed their own will upon us. They dismantled the culture of education and learning. Over the past four years, they have consistently worked to shut down all educational institutions. The Taliban have used the people of Afghanistan as political tools on the global stage. Since taking power, they have inflicted irreparable harm on our new generation. They have wasted four years of the lives of Afghanistan’s 40 million citizens and have systematically denied the human rights of all, especially women.
As a Muslim woman, I denounce all the actions the Taliban have carried out in the name of religion over these past four years. I am an Afghan woman who worked in various institutions during the Republic and continued to work even after the Taliban’s return. However, the Taliban issued a second decree banning women from working in international organizations. This decision has made life extremely difficult, especially for women like me who bear the responsibility of raising children. Believe me, these days I feel ashamed in front of my children—especially my daughters—because I am powerless. I don’t know what to do when they complete sixth grade next year and are barred from continuing their education.
I am deeply worried about my daughters’ future. Today, my son went to school wearing traditional clothes, and I cut his hair short to prevent it from being cut in humiliation at school. I don’t know what kind of fate this is—what kind of life this is. Everyone is trapped in this grim reality. All the women of this land are suffering and are left wondering what to do. Yet no one in the world feels responsible. No one hears the voices of Afghan women, and we don’t know why.
The Taliban are committing every crime imaginable in Farah. They have even eliminated the positions of newly appointed teachers. The Farah Department of Education is not allowed to hire new teachers, and even existing teachers are being dismissed. My husband struggled greatly to become a teacher, but recently his position was also terminated, and he is now unemployed.
Despite all this, we women of Farah still hold on to hope—that women will rise again, that girls in Farah will return to school, and that children will once again experience freedom and love.
Until freedom is achieved…
