lørdag 22. januar 2022

Afghan women taken from their homes after speaking out

The Taliban can threaten with a whisper. After 20 years of violent struggle, and the loss of tens of thousands of civilian lives, they took power here using brutal force. Even so, Afghan women refuse to be intimidated.

Tamana Zaryabi Paryani is one of those women. It takes raw courage to stand up to armed men who want to take away almost everything you have achieved in life. Last weekend, she joined dozens of others to demand the right to work and the right to an education. The protesters were pepper-sprayed by Taliban fighters, and a number said they had been stunned by electric shocks.

After making their voices heard, they returned home. Some feared they had been followed. On Wednesday night, at 20:00, armed men entered Tamana Paryani's apartment block in Kabul's Parwan 2 neighbourhood. She was alone at home with her sisters. The men began to kick the door.