In 2019, I began exploring a study into non-violent resistance against the Taliban. I never imagined that only two years later, we would be seeing unprecedented resistance initiated and led by the women of my generation. August 15 marks three years since the Taliban took over. And while we can and should mark the atrocities against women and girls during this anniversary, we should also recognize and cheer their resistance.
For the last three years, the Taliban have committed grave abuses toward women and girls in Afghanistan. Every single day, they restrict the lives of females. There is no confusion here – the United Nations has openly warned the global community that the Taliban’s systematic gender-based oppression in Afghanistan legally constitutes crimes against humanity.
When the Taliban first took power in the 1990s, they inherited the remnants of a civil war. Society was already suffering, allowing power grabs for the Taliban to be swift. When the Taliban assumed control again, in August 2021, Afghanistan – though far from perfect – was comparatively developing. Afghan women were actually leading initiatives to grow the country and empower its citizens.
Bashing women backwards has therefore not been as easy this time.
Right now, there are countless women working tirelessly on movements to fight back against Taliban rule. With indoor and outdoor protests, art, international advocacy and campaigns, women-led and focused newsrooms, and even secret schools – it is clear that they show no signs of giving up.
Only days after the Taliban seized power in 2021, women in Afghanistan’s major cities marched on the streets and protested. As these protests expanded, they also evolved into women’s movements – standing up directly to Taliban intimidation and violence against their activism. They adeptly relied heavily on social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) to establish communities and communicate their cause to global audiences, at a time when the Afghan media faces little freedom on the ground.
But while social media has increased Afghan women’s online participation, it has also left those who dare to speak out vulnerable to serious online abuse. The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) Afghan Witness project published an investigation revealing that online gendered hate speech and abuse directed at politically engaged Afghan women has tripled since the Taliban’s return to power.
We also found that hate speech and abuse directed at Afghan women was overwhelmingly sexualized, with over 60 percent of collected posts from 2022 contained sexualized terms used to target Afghan women. From regular accusations of prostitution and promiscuity, ethnic slurs, and gendered disinformation, to direct messages including pornographic content, sexually explicit photos, and even threats of sexual assault, rape, and death – the abuse obviously takes a devastating toll on women’s mental health.
“They send images of their private parts and sex videos,” one interviewee revealed. “Even when sometimes someone sends a normal photo, my heart beats fast, and I think someone has again sent something vulgar.”
The Afghan women we interviewed told us they believed they were vulnerable to real-life violence due to the abuse and harassment they faced online. “The people who abuse and harass women online exist in our real lives,” one women’s rights activist stressed.
Another interviewee added: “I sometimes feel very unsafe because I know there are people, overwhelmed by extremism, who do not even care about being put in prison. They can do anything and can hurt me.”
As a woman born and raised in Afghanistan, I understand why female Afghans are resisting. But I also fully comprehend the breadth of what they are sacrificing in doing so. Their peaceful protests are met with violence, intimidation, and detention. They face social stigmatization, estrangement from family, displacement, poverty, and in extreme cases, honor killings and suicides. And their online resistance is met with sexual harassment and explicit threats to their lives.
And yet, through all of this, they have not been silenced.
This time, the Taliban face a generation of educated and ambitious women who have shown firsthand that they will fight for their rights and dreams. As a global community, we bear the responsibility to amplify their voices. We must keep a spotlight on the daily lives of women under Taliban rule – not just on anniversaries, but for as long as the Taliban chooses to rule in this way.
The journey for women protesters has been arduous. It demands constant sacrifice and risks to their dignity and lives. Tamana Zaryab Paryani, Parwana Ibrahimkhel, Zahra Mohammadi, Wahida Amiri, Nayera Kohistani, and Zholia Parsi are only some of the names among those who were detained by the Taliban simply for resisting their rule.
So today, let us condemn the Taliban’s use of harassment and violence toward women, but also acknowledge and celebrate those brave women who continue to lead the fight for their rights, and for their lives.
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