On August 15 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, ushering in a situation human rights groups have described as “gender apartheid”. Today, women and girls in Afghanistan do not have freedom of movement. They do not have the right to go to school or university. They do not have the right to choose their own clothes. They are imprisoned in their homes for the crime of being women.

And yet, they continue to fight.

Zahra Nader, editor-in-chief of Zan Times, has been closely following the activists in Afghanistan who have mobilised in the face of the worst women’s rights crisis of our time. For the past few years, she has witnessed hundreds of women standing up to the Taliban in the face of severe repercussions, fighting for their rights and refusing to be silent.

‘Afghan women on the front line’ is a two-part documentary series about these courageous women, produced by Zan Times with support from the International Women’s Foundation, and published in partnership with NADJA and the Impact Newsletter.

Part one tells the story of two women activists who are bravely challenging the Taliban’s regime on the streets, first within Afghanistan and then in exile. Part two shows how women have taken their protests into the home – holding protests, putting on performances and running secret schools to educate girls.

We are proud to share these stories from inside a country where the very fact of being a woman or a girl is dangerous, never mind sharing that struggle with the outside world. You can read more about this project in Zahra Nader’s interview with NADJA.

“Once people know what’s happening, we hope they will start thinking about how they can support Afghan women,” Nader says: “If they cannot fight for their rights because the Taliban imprison them in their houses, what can I do, as a woman who has the right to work, the right to education, with a very different life from Afghan women? How can I speak up? How can I support them? How can I raise more awareness and share information about what’s happening in Afghanistan?”

Afghan Women on the Frontline: On the Street

Afghan Women on the Frontline: In their Homes