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 When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.

Letters of an Afghan Woman
Zan Times - Oct 13, 2025 - by Khadija Haidary
{From Kabul to China: A Journey sparked by ‘Letters of an Afghan Woman’
Banu Mushtaq was an unknown writer from southern India when she  won the International Booker Prize in May 2025. Her short story collection, The Heart’s Lamp, illuminates the lives of women in southern India. In her acceptance speech she said, “No story is ordinary,” adding that even the tales of remote villages carry universal truths. Her words have stayed with me, making  me think of the narratives written by Afghan women. We often feel our voices go unheard or that no one cares about our stories. Yet, as Bano Mushtaq reminds us, once a story is written it no longer belongs to a distant place; in time, it will reach the world. Listening to the bitter stories of Afghan women requires a generous heart and deep patience, for their words are a continual refrain of suffering — a pain that seems endless because their hardships are unending. When a writer approaches these women, she carries not only the duties of a journalist but also the heavy responsibility of trust: to convey their pain-filled stories to the world in a way that reflects not only the sorrow but also the courage and resistance that define these women. Many women feel a sense of triumph when they hear their stories will be written, as if the act of being recorded completes the mission of their suffering. Some eagerly follow up, asking when their story will be published and how people have responded. Media that values Afghan women, listens to them, and provides a reliable platform is a vital resource, as are writers who travel to remote villages or hidden corners of cities to faithfully record these experiences. In September 2024, I met Chinese journalist Weiling Hong, who wanted to report on the life of a woman journalist working under Taliban rule. Together, we wrote Letters of an Afghan Woman, which included links to several narratives I had published for Zan Times. Within hours of its release in China, the article was viewed by hundreds of thousands of readers and focused new attention on the situation of Afghan women. Website data shows that many Chinese readers then visited Zan Times to read more of its stories. Soon after, a female editor from LIGHT Publishing in China emailed me, saying she had read my narratives on Zan Times and that they had touched her heart; she felt she understood the pain of Afghan women. She asked me to send more stories like those I had written so she could publish them as a standalone book for Chinese readers. I have been writing short stories since 2020 and have many unpublished works. I realized it was time to create a complete book. I chose 18 short stories centered on the suffering and hardships of Afghan women. Four had previously appeared as narratives or essays in Persian-language newspapers, while the remaining 14 were unpublished. After signing a contract, I sent the full manuscript to the publisher. After reading all the stories, my Chinese editor wrote that she found them deeply moving and could feel the pain behind every tale. My book, Letters of an Afghan Woman, was published in China on August 4, 2025, with an initial print run of 10,000 copies. When I wrote these stories, I never imagined a publisher would contact me with an offer to print them. Now that the book is out, I feel these narratives may stand as the only testament to the lives, resilience, and suffering of 18 Afghan women — women who have rarely been allowed to appear or shine in Afghan society. Since 2023, every story I have written for Zan Times has chronicled the immense hardships Afghan women endure because of political, geographic, traditional, and cultural forces. My first piece, written under a pseudonym, described how Kabul’s walls, once covered in vibrant art, had been plastered with grim slogans enforcing the hijab. Later, I wrote about secret home schools and about women seeking a way forward for themselves and their children. One young woman, formerly the director of a busy office, turned to work in the beauty industry after losing her job. After the Taliban shut her salon, she carried a bag of makeup and tools to clients, allowing her to financially support her ailing mother despite the risks. Zan Times has become a true place where women’s suffering is heard. These painful stories are not kept in solitude; I share them so others can understand the reality Afghan women face today. I still hear the voice of an elderly neighbour who was forced to migrate at the age of 75 for the sake of her grandchildren’s future. Speaking of her home, she said, “This house is like Mecca and Medina to me.” She had to abandon that sacred space, not knowing what new hardships awaited her frail body. Over the last three years, Zan Times itself has become an important archive of Afghan women’s narratives. Stories arrive daily; some remain unpublished because of security reasons. The website is now a trusted source for well-documented investigations and reports on the lives of Afghan women since August 2021. Many accounts come from courageous women who risked their lives, endured torture in places like Department 40, Pul-e-Charkhi, and Badam Bagh prisons, and later sent us their testimonies, asking that they be safeguarded and published. In a recent editorial meeting, we discussed creating a book drawn from these published narratives. Today, Afghan women are writing their own history with their own pens. It is a history meant to ensure that no girl will be denied an education or the right to tell her story in the future.
Khadija Haidary is a Zan Times journalist and editor.} Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/13/from-kabul-to-china-a-journey-sparked-by-letters-of-an-afghan-woman/

Zan Times - Oct 11, 2025 - by Zahra Nader
{‘Good enough’: Afghan women seek justice at the people’s tribunal in Madrid
For Zarmina Paryani, who was imprisoned twice by the Taliban, the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan was more than a legal process. It was an act of freedom, she tells Zan Times. The tribunal was held from October 8 to 10 in Madrid. Its judges found that evidence and testimony presented during the hearings demonstrated “a coordinated, state-level campaign of gender persecution carried out with the intent to erase women from public life.” They pledged to release a full verdict within two months. For survivors like Zarmina Paryani, that acknowledgement was a recognition long sought by women and other oppressed groups in Afghanistan and one that has been long denied by the Taliban. “It was good enough for me,” she says in a WhatsApp voice message. “The Taliban fear us speaking about their crimes. But that day in the court, I spoke before international judges. That was good enough for me.”
During the hearings held in the hushed hall of the Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid, dozens listened, including judges, lawyers, activists, and exiled Afghans. Some wiped away tears as Zarmina Paryani, now 26, recalled the night Taliban forces stormed the apartment she shared with her sisters, a space where young women used to gather to plan their protests for women’s rights. Their last protest took place on January 16, 2022, three days before their arrest.“When they started knocking, we knew it was the Taliban,” Zarmina told the tribunal. “Then they started kicking and screaming. Every kick on the door felt like a kick on our body, on our soul.” The sisters turned off the lights and hid in a bedroom, but the Taliban began breaking the aparment door. When Zarmina saw an armed soldier in their living room, looking at her, she thought death was the only escape: “The only way I could find was to jump from our three-story apartment window.” She injured her hips but survived the fall. “A Taliban soldier pointed his gun at me and shouted, ‘Don’t move or I’ll shoot!’ That night, even death didn’t give me sanctuary,” she said during her testimony. Zarmina Paryani was one of more than two dozen Afghan women who testified before the tribunal — some in person, others online or through recorded statements. Before their arrest, her sister Tamana Paryani, a women’s rights activist, had recorded a short video plea for help and then sent it to a friend who posted it online after they were taken away by the Taliban. The video went viral and Zarmina believes it saved their lives: “That video became the weapon that stopped the Taliban from killing us.” Zarmina Paryani was one of more than two dozen Afghan women who testified before the tribunal — some in person, others online or through recorded statements. They spoke from across Afghanistan and in exile, from Kabul, Herat, Mazar, Kandahar, and refugee camps in Pakistan and Iran. Some, including Zarmina Paryani and activist Hoda Khamosh, spoke under their real names with their faces uncovered for all to see as the proceedings were broadcast live. Others wore black masks, sunglasses and scarves to conceal their identities in fear of Taliban retaliation. Some even asked that cameras be turned away during their testimony.} Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/11/good-enough-afghan-women-seek-justice-at-the-peoples-tribunal-in-madrid/


Mina Jalal
Jinha - Womens News Center - Oct 9, 2025 - By  Baharan Laheeb
{Mina Jalal: A Female Voice Fighting Corruption and Planting Hope in Afghanistan
Despite more than two decades of conflict in Afghanistan, there are still women who continue to fight for women’s dignity and independence—among them is Mina Jalal, who founded her organization to rekindle hope in the hearts of poor women .
Kunar – Since 2001, Afghanistan has witnessed a growing number of organizations dedicated to securing women’s rights. However, many of those who led such organizations were not genuinely committed to defending women’s rights or promoting their freedom; rather, their main concern was to obtain funds and projects, turning women’s rights into mere profit-driven ventures. Alongside the governments of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani, many of these organization heads enriched themselves while violence against women, murder, forced suicides, child marriages, the exchange of women as commodities, and honor-related killings all increased. Due to rampant corruption over the past twenty years—and despite the presence of the United States, NATO, and neighboring countries—the Taliban ultimately seized power overnight. Yet amid all this corruption, some women dedicated their lives to fighting for freedom and democracy, paying heavy prices to help women achieve self-sufficiency and escape the cycle of violence and abuse.
“Supporting and economically empowering women is the core of our mission”
All women activists believe that economic independence is the key to freedom—that once a woman is free from financial dependence, she can claim her rights and live her life freely. Among these women stands Mina Jalal, head of the “Voices of Women” foundation since 2018. Since its establishment, the organization has implemented numerous programs and initiatives and continues to stand by women in various provinces, playing a key role in supporting and economically empowering them while strengthening their presence in society. Mina Jalal said, “The goal of the foundation is to support poor women and orphaned children. Our activities focus on tailoring, vocational education, cash assistance, and supporting children in need.” She added, “We have implemented multiple projects in several provinces, most recently in Nangarhar, Laghman, Kunar, and Nuristan. Our organization does not discriminate based on origin or affiliation; we seek to include the women who are most in need.” Mina explained that the foundation’s projects have reached over 700 women through six-month and year-long programs, noting that many of the women who received support have managed to stand on their own feet and achieve economic self-sufficiency—an accomplishment she considers a true milestone in women’s empowerment.
Towards Self-Sufficiency
Mina Jalal explained that one of the foundation’s goals is to provide medical support to children in need, saying, “Many of them suffer from health problems and cannot afford to see a doctor. We organized medical camps to treat these children. Although each camp lasted only two to seven days, we held them several times to provide care and support.” She also highlighted the organization’s efforts in vocational training for women, offering courses in tailoring and embroidery: “After training the women professionally, we reached out to companies to secure job opportunities for them so they could support their children and earn a living with dignity.”
“Our support for earthquake victims was direct and humanitarian”
Mina Jalal stated that the “Voices of Women” foundation provided direct humanitarian assistance to women affected by the earthquake in Kunar Province, emphasizing that the disaster there was “tragic in every sense of the word.” She continued, “Every stone and grain of soil in that region was stained with the blood of innocent women and children. While many organizations rushed to offer help, our approach was different.” “We made sure to bring female doctors with us, since the local culture prevents women from visiting male doctors. We were the first medical team to enter the area with female doctors, and we managed to treat women who were in critical condition. We stayed there for three consecutive days, providing care even late at night. It was a small contribution, but it was essential for the women of Kunar.”
“The women of Kunar suffer psychological trauma and a lack of healthcare”
According to Mina Jalal, the earthquake left deep psychological and health impacts on women: “Most women suffered from severe trauma and low blood pressure after losing their homes and families. They couldn’t seek medical help from male doctors due to prevailing social norms.” She added that women in the area also faced severe vitamin deficiencies, and among them were pregnant women who had lost their babies. Many expressed profound grief, saying they could never return to the homes where they lost their loved ones, even after many years.
“Children in Kunar faced serious illnesses”
Mina Jalal noted that the earthquake had serious health consequences for children as well: “Most of them suffered from diarrhea, fever, and chills due to malnutrition and poor living conditions. In the Mazār Valley of Nurgal District, no food aid reached the children for nine days. The roads were blocked, and there was nowhere to sleep, which led to the spread of diseases among the children.”
A Message of Hope
In conclusion, Mina delivered a heartfelt message: “Women who have learned to read and write must never forget their humanity. It doesn’t matter where a woman comes from or what ethnicity she belongs to—Hazara, Tajik, or Pashtun—what matters is that there are women who have placed their hope in us. We must live up to that trust. We must extend a helping hand without discrimination and do all we can to support one another. Our help, as women, carries a unique meaning. When we visited the earthquake-affected areas, women embraced us and wept with us—that moment showed us they feel we are part of them. We must never forget the women living in remote villages. We must give them all the support and solidarity we can.”} Video - Source: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/mina-jalal-a-female-voice-fighting-corruption-and-planting-hope-in-afghanistan-37721?page=1


‘Please hear our voices’
Zan Times - Oct 8, 2025 - by Zahra Nader
{‘Please hear our voices’: Afghan women demand justice at the people’s tribunal in Madrid
At the Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid, the usual hum of lawyers and legal scholars gave way to silence on Wednesday, as the voices of Afghan women echoed through the hall. In that historic building, women survivors of torture and repression spoke before a panel of international judges at the People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan, which had been convened by the Permanent People’s Tribunal. The tribunal aims to document and expose the systematic gender persecution under Taliban rule. It was requested by four Afghan civil society organizations: Rawadari, the Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO), the Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies (DROPS), and Human Rights Defenders Plus. “Today, we will bear witness, seek accountability, and challenge tyranny and its normalization,” said Shahrazad Akbar, executive director of Rawadari, speaking on behalf of the four civil society organizations. “We are here to raise awareness and demand solidarity from women and men around the world, for we know that true power lies with the people.” The tribunal will conclude on October 10, when the panel of judges from the Permanent People’s Tribunal will issue preliminary findings. On the first day, eight witnesses testified, some in person, others online or through recorded statements due to security concerns. Each person’s testimony, though usually cautious and fragmented, painted a haunting picture of life under Taliban rule: the shuttered schools, fear of arrest, and the quiet persistence of women who refuse to disappear. Among them was a young student who survived three suicide bombings, including the 2022 attack on the Kaaj educational centre in Kabul, which killed at least 53 students, most of them girls. Wearing a black mask and sunglasses to conceal her identity, she began by thanking the judges: “Thank you for giving us, the silenced survivors of war and discrimination, an opportunity to be heard,” adding, “I am here today to say knowledge should not be criminalized, and no girl should be deprived of education.” A week before she was due to take the national university entrance exam, she was studying at the centre when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives. Though badly injured in the deadly attack, she still insisted on sitting for the exam. “I could only answer 42 out of 300 questions, then I collapsed and was transferred to the hospital,” she said, adding that it was not solely because of her injuries, but because her right to education was taken from her. She still bears the physical scars of the attack, and the pain resurfaces from time to time. But she refuses to stop. “I don’t accept defeat and I will not give up,” she said, “because I don’t have any other choices.” The proceedings in Madrid are not a formal legal court but rather one that carries symbolic and moral authority. Convened by the Permanent People’s Tribunal, an independent international body with a long history of examining human rights abuses where states fail to act, the session was led by four Afghan prosecutors: Azadah Raz Mohammad, Benafsha Yaqoobi, Orzala Nemat, and Moheb Mudessir. Their case accuses the Taliban of committing the crime against humanity of gender persecution, as defined in Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). “The Taliban’s actions are clearly widespread and systematic,” said Azadah Raz Mohammad. “These are not isolated incidents, but part of a deliberate policy enforced through law, police, and institutions, with the specific intent to oppress women and uphold male domination.” Orzala Nemat explained that the prosecution’s indictment targets the Taliban leadership, including its leader and nine senior officials, as well as the structures that sustain their ideology of gender apartheid.  } Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/08/please-hear-our-voices-afghan-women-demand-justice-at-the-peoples-tribunal-in-madrid/


women street vendors of Mazar
Zan Times - Oct 6, 2025 - by Lida Bariz
{The desperate fate of the women street vendors of Mazar
The gentle autumn winds swirl dust along the roads of Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, setting it dancing in the air. Beneath the scorching sun on a street that leads to the Shrine, women in faded burqas lay out second-hand clothes that carry the scent of poverty and age on plastic sheets. While most passersby move by, indifferent to the wares on offer, a few touch the fabric of the garments and then offer a few afghani for specific items. Among the row of female vendors is an elderly woman named Marjan.. Her back is bent, her hands are cracked, and the lines on her face resemble well-worn pages of a book. Dust has settled into the folds of her worn burqa as she arranges a modest spread of a few shirts and trousers, keeping an anxious eye out for customers. By midday, Marjan pulls a rough tarpaulin over her head to shield herself from the fierce sun. Marjan’s husband is dead, leaving her to support a family of five. Her stooped shoulders symbolize the full weight of that burden. “I am Marjan, a widow in my mid-fifties. I’ve been doing this work for eight years,” she says quietly. In addition to the struggle to earn bread for her family, she must care for a disabled son. Although she labours from dawn to dusk every day, she still cannot cover all the household expenses. This hardship has driven her three other children onto the streets of Mazar-e-Sharif to beg. After long, punishing days, Marjan has often returned home empty-handed, meaning the entire family is hungry as they curl up in bed. “There are days when we have nothing at home. If we have flour, there is no salt; if there is salt, there is no soap,” she explains. “Even our electricity was cut off because I couldn’t pay the bill. We spend the nights in darkness.” Marjan holds out a hand, showing bones that never set properly after being broken: “I can’t wash clothes for people. My eyesight is failing, too. The doctor says I need surgery — but where would I find the money?” Each day she sets out her small stall on the street, hoping not to encounter municipal officers and parking attendants who have repeatedly forced her to pack up. According to Marjan, these officials extort the women vendors, demanding money to let them continue selling. “They say, ‘Give 20 afghani.’ I haven’t even earned 10 afghani yet — where can I get it? If I refuse, they throw my tarp into the street,” says Marjan. Among the street vendors who work alongside Marjan is Fariha, who also sells second-hand clothes. She arrived three months ago. Like the other women, she hopes to earn enough by selling a neat array of colourful garments to buy bread for her children. She has to sell her wares on the roadside because she can’t afford the shop rents in the city. “I buy clothes from people, each piece for 30 to 120 afghani, and then sell them for maybe 200 or 250,” Fariha tells Zan Times. Though Fariha smiles as she talks, she cannot hide her worry. Like Marjan, she is extorted by municipal officers.“Every day we have to be ready to pack up our stall. Sometimes the Taliban come and say, ‘Pay 300 afghani.’ If we don’t pay, they chase us away,” she says.} Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/06/the-desperate-fate-of-the-women-street-vendors-of-mazar/


Sudanese Female Journalists
Jinha - Womens News Center - Oct 6, 2025 -
{Within a Week… Taliban Flog Eight Women Despite International Outcry
The Taliban has flogged a woman and seven men in Kabul, accusing them of drug trafficking, selling narcotics, and “running away from home.” The convicts were sentenced to between seven months and two years in prison, along with 10 to 39 public lashes.
News Desk- Despite ongoing condemnation from international human rights organizations over the use of corporal punishment and torture, the Taliban has continued to carry out public floggings during its four years in power, describing such acts as “a command of Islamic Sharia.” According to the Taliban-controlled Supreme Court, the Anti-Narcotics Court in Kabul sentenced six individuals to flogging on Sunday, October 5, for drug trafficking and sales. Meanwhile, the Kabul Primary Court sentenced a woman and a man to 35 lashes and two years in prison each, after accusing them of “running away from home.” Earlier, on October 2, the Taliban announced that within one week, 18 people — including seven women — were flogged in various Afghan provinces, such as Khost, Kapisa, and Maidan Wardak, under different pretexts. Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban has enforced increasingly hardline policies, particularly targeting women. These restrictions have severely curtailed women’s rights and freedoms across nearly every aspect of public and private life in Afghanistan.} Source: https://jinhaagency.com/en/actual/within-a-week-taliban-flog-eight-women-despite-international-outcry-37703

Zan Times - Oct 3, 2025 - by Atia FarAzar
{‘We were like people living in caves’: Afghans recount the internet blackout
Hamida lives in Hairatan, near the border with Uzbekistan. The 26-year-old was the only one of my Facebook friends in Afghanistan still online during Afghanistan’s 48-hour internet and telephone blackout that began on Monday, September 29. She uses an Uzbek SIM card, she explained after I messaged her. Its data packages are both cheaper and harder for the Taliban to cut. “For 500 afghani I get 90 GB of internet,” she said, adding that Afghan companies usually charge 2,099 afghani for 50 GB. Despite being connected, she could not reach her fiancé in Badakhshan. “We had planned everything for our wedding by phone, even buying things through video calls,” she tells Zan Times in a WhatsApp voice message on Tuesday. “But now I can’t reach him.” From Monday to Wednesday evening, Afghanistan experienced its first total internet and telephone communication shutdown. The Taliban have not issued an official explanation, although spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied an Associated Press report that attributed the shutdown to “old fiber optic lines” being replaced.  Two weeks earlier, Taliban authorities began banning fiber optic services in Balkh province, saying the move was necessary to “prevent vices.” Other provinces soon followed. “The Taliban’s moves to cut internet access harms the livelihoods of millions of Afghans and deprives them of their basic rights to education, health care, and access to information,” said Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement on October 1. The effects were felt immediately throughout Afghanistan. Flights to and from Kabul’s airport were cancelled. Businesses relying on mobile transfers and online communication were left paralyzed. After the internet was restored on Wednesday, a resident of Sheberghan in Jawzjan province, one resident recounted the experience to Zan Times: “We were completely blind, like people living in caves. … Banks were closed, government offices said their systems were down, and food prices went up.” The shutdown struck hardest at women, who already face a sweeping ban on secondary and higher education and public employment. For Asia, a 20-year-old law student in Mazar-e-Sharif, the blackout abruptly severed her only access to education. “When the Taliban closed universities, I couldn’t accept that my studies would just end,” she says. “I enrolled online, and I was in my fourth semester.” Her class includes 25 students from across Afghanistan. For two days, their screens were dark. “I can’t hear their voices anymore,” she says. “Once again, the Taliban have broken the bridge between Afghan girls and their dreams. We are alive, but we are not living.” HRW documented similar experiences. A lecturer told the organization that of 28 students enrolled in an online course — including 18 women in Afghanistan — only nine were able to log in once the blackout began. The shutdown also silenced communication between Afghans inside the country and relatives abroad who provide crucial financial and emotional support. Zohra, a 28-year-old who lives in Australia, calls her 65-year-old mother in Kabul every day. She also sends money for rent and medicine. “The last night we spoke, my mother was sick,” she says. “I told her not to worry, that I’d take care of her.” Panic set in after she couldn’t reach her mother for two days. “I’ve cried so much. I can’t sleep. I’m breastfeeding my baby but my head hurts constantly,” Zarmena tells Zan Times. I don’t know if my mother had medicine or food. For many Afghan women, the internet blackout is not just about lost connections, it is part of a broader pattern of exclusion. Schools, workplaces, and public spaces have already been taken from women. Online platforms were among the last venues where they could study, work, and speak out. Now, even that fragile space is under threat. For more than two years, Nargis, an 11th-grade student in Herat, has studied English online, keeping alive the dream of continuing her education. On the first day of the shutdown, she was in the middle of a weekly test when her connection suddenly dropped. “That moment was so hard and unbelievable for me,” she said. “For two days I was silent and isolated, unable to do anything.” Her mother suffered such stress after losing touch with Nargis’s older sister in Germany that she fell ill. “She has constant headaches now,” Nargis says. Online learning is the only measure of hope she has left. Nargis spent nearly two years battling depression and confinement after the Taliban closed schools to women. Now she fears that hope may be slipping away. “If the internet is blocked forever,” she quietly explains,“I will fall back into depression. But this time, there will be no escape.”
Ida Osman contributed to this report.
Atia FarAzar is the pseudonym of a Zan Times journalist. } Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/10/03/we-were-like-people-living-in-caves-afghans-recount-the-internet-blackout/

Zan Times - Sept 21, 2025 - by Sara Ibrahim and Hadis Habibyar
{‘Send your daughters or you get no aid’: the Taliban are making religious schools girls’ only option
This report has been published in partnership with the Guardian.
When the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Nahid, 24, was midway through her economics degree. She had hoped to graduate and perhaps work in a university.
Instead, Nahid now spends her mornings at a religious school in the basement of a mosque in the western city of Herat, sitting on the floor and reciting scripture with 50 women and girls, all dressed head to toe in black. She knows the Taliban’s is “trying to change women’s mind”, but says she attends the class because, “it’s the only way I can leave my home and fight depression”. The incentive of 1000 afghani she receives every month also helps. Nahid’s story is not unusual. A Guardian and Zan Times investigation across eight of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, has revealed the Taliban’s deliberate and calculated efforts to make religious studies the only education option available to women and girls in Afghanistan. After first excluding women and girls from secondary school and further education, the regime has been building a vast new network of religious schools that encourage and incentivise a new alternative. There were more than 21,000 Islamic education centres across Afghanistan by the end of 2024, according to reports in Irfan Magazine, a Taliban-run publication. To staff them, the ministry has issued teaching certificates to 21,300 madrasa graduates recognising them as qualified at high school, bachelor’s or even master’s level. The religious schools expansion shows no sign of slowing. Between September 2024 and February 2025, the Taliban built or laid foundations for nearly 50 new madrasas across 11 provinces. Families have been left with few alternatives since girls were excluded from secondary schools and so often find themselves pressured or incentivised into enrolling their children, especially daughters, in religious schools. “They told us: ‘Send your daughters to the madrasa or you get nothing,” says Nasreen, a mother of four in the southwestern Nimroz province who relies on food aid. Others describe being promised jobs, rations or cash-for-work placements. Karima, also in Nimroz, pulled her two daughters out of school at the request of the local mullah. “He said he would give us aid if I sent them to his class. But in the end, nothing came.” In the girls’ schools that still remain open for the primary grades, the impact is visible. Class sizes have shrunk dramatically. In Nimruz, one teacher says that 57 of her pupils left for madrasas this year alone. “Before, each grade had four sections with 40 students. Now we have three sections with only 20 to 25.” Even those who stay often attend both institutions, spending mornings in the madrasa and afternoons in school, until pressure mounts and they drop out altogether. Meanwhile, experienced teachers with university degrees have been stopped from teaching. Their replacements are often teenage madrasa graduates with no classroom training, but strong ideological credentials. In the western province of Farah, a principal recalls being ordered to dismiss five qualified teachers. One of their replacements was appointed headmistress despite being unable to read fluently; her only qualification, says the principal, was that she had connections with officials and held a certificate from a religious school. The curriculum in madrasas is narrow: Qur’anic memorisation, Taliban interpretations of Islamic law, gender roles and modesty codes. Maths and science are absent. Textbooks are imported from Pakistan and printed in Pashto even in Dari-speaking regions [Dari and Pashto are the two main official languages in Afghanistan], leaving many children struggling to understand. Lessons are typically held between 8.30am and 11am, the same hours as formal school forcing families to choose. Activists say even international aid is siphoned off to support madrasas. In one case, stationery donated by UNICEF to a public school was diverted to a mullah’s class; the school janitor was told to record the loss as “misplaced,” says a school teacher. The influence of mullahs reaches far beyond the classroom. As community leaders and conduits for aid, they wield power over daily life. “Send your daughters to our religious classes, or we will remove your names from the list of food and cash aid,” one mother in the northern city of Kunduz recalls being told. Another resident, says even job opportunities are reserved for families whose daughters attend religious classes. The result is a steady reshaping of community norms. Families who resist face isolation and hunger. Those who comply often watch their daughters return home more rigid, more critical, sometimes denouncing their parents as “infidels.” The expansion of madrasas is also reshaping Afghanistan’s job market. Civil servants with years of training are being replaced by teenagers with madrasa certificates. In Nimroz, one activist recalls a woman with a bachelor’s degree and 20 years of experience at the women’s affairs department dismissed without explanation. Her replacement: a 17-year-old madrasa graduate. “Now everyone understands. If you want a job, forget university. Go to the madrasa.” The message has filtered down. Girls we interviewed say they no longer dream of becoming doctors or engineers. Instead, they see madrasa certificates as safer and increasingly the only qualification that counts. For Nahid, the economics student turned madrasa pupil, the paradox is cruel. The classes offer her a reprieve from isolation and depression, but only within the confines of an ideology she rejects. “If I stay home, I will lose my mind. If I go, at least I see other women.” } Source: https://zantimes.com/2025/09/21/send-your-daughters-or-you-get-no-aid-the-taliban-are-making-religious-schools-girls-only-option/

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