One Year On The Taliban’s Assault on Women’s Rights.

Afghan women’s charity Rahela Trust urges people to attend a special International Women’s Day event to fight for women’s rights in Afghanistan.

During the month of International Women’s Day 2022, Afghan women saw even more of their rights decimated by the Taliban regime; women must not be employed in offices, must not leave home and must not enter health centres without mahram.

One year on “and the situation for women in Afghanistan is dire”, comments Rahela Sidiqi, founder of Rahela Trust, a charity that supports the marginalised women of Afghanistan.

This International Women’s Day, and the one-year anniversary of unimaginable restrictions on women’s freedom in Afghanistan, Rahela Trust is calling on people not to forget the women of Afghanistan and continue to pressure their local representatives to keep it on the agenda.

At the International Women’s Day event at Second Home, Rahela Trust will set out six ways in which people can help which will include tangible actions you can take to make a personal impact on championing Afghan women’s education.

Collective action is crucial to making a difference and helping Afghan women. Rahela Trust is urging allies of the Afghan people to attend the event on 8th March, enabling them to understand better how they can contribute and effect change.

Many women have fled Afghanistan, making a life-threatening journey from their homeland, but there are many women still living in the country who fear for their lives with every hour that passes.

Evacuation schemes for Afghans, such as the ACRS are operating with limited resources. Reports have shown that a team of under a dozen are managing the resettlement scheme, handling 11,000 applications with just 1,500 spaces. In context, over 500 staff members run the parallel resettlement scheme for Ukrainians.

“The situation for women worsens day by day, but this does not mean that we lose our passion for fighting for women’s rights and their right to an education. Afghan women around the world are calling on us to come together and fight alongside them, and we do that by celebrating our culture and providing a platform for their stories,” says Rahela Sidiqi.

On Wednesday 8^th March, join Rahela Trust along with Afghan journalist Ariana Abawe of Ariana Magazine for an event at cultural workspace venue Second Home, which will shine a light on the experiences of Afghan refugees and diaspora tirelessly campaigning against the injustices waged by the Taliban in their homeland.

Ariana will be joined by:

• Founders of Rahyab Organisation, blind Afghan disability rights activist Benafsha Yaqboobi and her husband, Mahdi Salami
• Footballer Sariah Nawrozi Mohseni
• Founder of Rahela Trust, Rahela Sidiqi
• Former Afghan Judge Marzia Barbarkhail

To register for the event, visit https://secondhome.io/event/whats-next-fighting-for-womens-rights-in-afghanistan/