Under Taliban rule, women in Afghanistan can’t learn, travel, or even sing in public. Women who speak out have been tortured and disappeared, and many fled to neighbouring Pakistan. But now they are being sent back. NGO Avaaz is fighting for the rights of these women and trying to relocate them to safety before it’s too late.
These women have survived unimaginable horrors at the hands of the Taliban. One woman was burned with boiling oil for refusing a forced marriage. Another was a national sports star, violently beaten after protesting on the streets. They’re community leaders, journalists, teachers, and prominent women’s rights activists.
Over 430,000 compassionate citizens across the world signed Avaaz’s petition to protect them — and they’ve already secured a path to resettlement in Brazil for many of the women.
Activists aim to evacuate Afghan women’s rights defenders to safer countries, before they’re forced back into the Taliban’s hands. Some of them are hiding in abandoned buildings to avoid arrest.
The Taliban know Afghan women will not give up. That’s why they’re cracking down on the very activists who are leading the resistance in Afghanistan and abroad. Right now these women need urgent help to escape.
