A bullet couldn’t silence her, and now Malala Yousafzai lends her voice to the women of Afghanistan.
Women’s rights have been so eroded in the few years since the Taliban regained control of the country that even singing is banned.
Malala has a personal history with the Taliban across the border in Pakistan after a gunman from the hardline Islamist group shot her while she sat on a school bus.
The speed of change in Afghanistan, if not the brutality, has surprised Malala, who since that near-fatal shooting in 2012 has campaigned for equality.
“I never imagined that women’s rights would be lost so easily,” Malala told BBC radio. Asian Network.
“Many girls find themselves in a very desperate and depressing situation where they see no way out,” says the 27-year-old Nobel Prize winner.
“The future looks very dark.”
Return
In 2021, the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, 20 years after a US-led invasion toppled their regime following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.
In the three and a half years since Western forces left the country, The “morality laws” have caused women in Afghanistan to lose dozens of rights.
A dress code requires women to be completely covered, and strict rules prohibit them from traveling without a male companion or from looking a man in the eye unless they are related by blood or marriage.
“The restrictions are so extreme that they don’t even make sense to anyone,” says Malala.
The United Nations states that the standards amount to a “apartheid “gender”a system in which people face economic and social discrimination based on their sex and something that human rights group Amnesty International wants to see recognized as a crime under international law.
But the Taliban have defended the norms, which they say are accepted in Afghan society, and argue that the international community must respect “Islamic laws, traditions and values of Muslim societies.”
“Women have lost everything,” says Malala.
“They [los talibanes] They know that to take away women’s rights you have to start with the most basic, which is education.”.
The UN states that since the takeover, more than a million girls are out of school in Afghanistan (around 80%) and that in 2022 around 100,000 students will be prohibited from pursuing university studies.
A correlation between lack of access to education and increases in child marriage and deaths during pregnancy and childbirth has also been reported.
“Afghan women are now living in very dark times”Malala denounces.
“But they show resistance.”
Showing the reality
The Pakistani-born activist, who became the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize, is executive producer of an upcoming film –Bread & Roses– which documents the lives of three Afghan women living under the Taliban regime.
The film follows Zahra, a dentist forced to leave her office; to the activist Taranom, who flees to the border; and the government employee Sharifa, who loses her job and her independence.
But the film is not just about the stories of three women, says Malala.
“It is about the 20 million Afghan girls and women whose stories may not reach our screens”.
Bread & Roses It was directed by Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani, and American actress Jennifer Lawrence served as producer.
Sahra tells Asian Network that its mission was “to tell the story of a nation under the Taliban dictatorship”.
“How slowly all rights have been taken away.”
Sahra managed to flee Afghanistan after the US-backed government collapsed following the withdrawal of troops in August 2021.
But She kept in touch with the women of her country, who shared videos with her that she later compiled and archived..
“It was very important to find young, modern, educated women who had talent and were willing to dedicate it to society,” says Sahra.
“They were ready to build the country, but now they have to stay at home and do almost nothing.”
Although the film has not yet been released, Sahra believes that the situation in Afghanistan has already deteriorated to the point that it would be impossible to make it if it started now.
“At that time, women could still go out and demonstrate,” she says.
“Nowadays, women are not even allowed to sing… the situation is becoming more difficult.”
First-hand images show women at the protests: they did not stop recording while they were arrested by the Taliban.
And Sahra says the project became more difficult over time, as more rights were taken away from them.
“We feel very honored that these women trusted us to share their stories,” she says.
“And for us it was very important to put your safety among our priorities.
“But when they took to the streets to ask for their rights, it was not because of the documentary.”.
“It was for them, for their own lives, for their own freedom”.
Rebellion
Malala says that, for women in Afghanistan, “rebellion is a great challenge.”
“Despite all these challenges, they are on the streets and risking their lives in the hope of a better world for themselves.”
The three women who appear in the film no longer live in Afghanistan and Sahra and Malala hope the film will raise awareness of what the women who continue to live there have to endure.
“They are doing everything they can to fight for their rights, to raise their voices,” says Malala.
“They are putting a lot at risk. It is time for us to be their sisters and their defenders.”
Malala also hopes the documentary will generate more international pressure on the Taliban to restore women’s rights.
“I was completely shocked when I saw the reality of the Taliban taking power,” account.
“We really have to question what kind of systems we have put in place to ensure the protection of women in Afghanistan, but also elsewhere.”
And although Bread & Roses Deals with stories of loss and oppression, the film also speaks of resilience and hope.
“There is much to learn from the bravery and courage of these Afghan women,” Malala says.
“If they are not afraid, if they are not losing that courage to confront the Taliban, we should learn from them and stand in solidarity with them.”
The title itself is inspired by an Afghan saying.
“Bread is a symbol of freedom, of earning a salary and of supporting the family,” explains Sahra.
“We have a saying in my language that says that ‘he who gave you bread is the one who gives you orders.’
“So if you find your bread, that means you are your own boss.”
That’s exactly the future she hopes to see for the women of Afghanistan, and based on what she’s seen, she believes they will achieve it in the end.
“Women in Afghanistan constantly change tactics”he points out.
“They are still looking for a new way to continue fighting.”
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