"We must think of those who could not flee": how to help Afghan women?

August 2021. In the streets of Kabul, portraits of Afghan women are torn off, advertising posters burnt.

Thousands of kilometers away, in Paris, Virginie Rucheton watches, bewildered, the television reports.

The M6 ​​group's HR innovation and development manager immediately thinks of reacting.

“The Taliban are erasing women and sending them back to nothing.

With friends, we then had the idea of ​​creating a 2022 calendar bearing the faces of twelve French women recognized in their profession, who agree to show their faces for those who can no longer do so. "

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Women in solidarity

Alexia Laroche-Joubert, television producer, Ghada Hatem, obstetrician gynecologist, founder of La Maison des femmes, in Saint-Denis, Julia Minkowski, lawyer, Audrey Bourolleau, founder of the Hectar agricultural campus, among others, accepted the challenge orchestrated by photographer Nicolas Kovarik. “On a personal level, I know the challenges that senior officials can face in Afghanistan. We had to affirm our solidarity, ”testifies Julia Minkowski. The funds raised will be donated to Afghanistan Libre, an NGO created in 1996, which has already supported more than 300,000 girls and women, and they will pay the salaries of defenders of women's rights on the spot and teachers who can no longer exercise their duties. profession, explains the president, Chékéba Hachemi, the first Afghan woman to have been a diplomat.An e-learning program for middle school and high school students excluded from knowledge will also be built with the support of the Raja-Danièle Marcovici Foundation.

Raise public awareness

Other initiatives are multiplying.

Thus, the authors Rachel Khan and Tristane Banon quickly developed with the Editions of the

Observatory

, a collective work to raise awareness among the French, which brings together feathers such as Elisabeth Badinter, Caroline Fourest and Amanda Sthers. we will not overthrow a Taliban regime with sentences, but they build bridges of words between these Afghan women and us, constructions of unheard-of solidity that no Islamist will ever know how to destroy, ”assures the foreword.

Profits will also go to Free Afghanistan.

“Once on French soil, the refugees cannot stay in their hotel rooms, they want to learn our language and rebuild themselves.

We must support them, ”summarizes Rachel Khan.

Beyond France, a pan-European mentoring program including twenty-four companies, including BNP Paribas, L'Oréal, Sodexo and Suez, recently set up a network (Tent Partnership for Refugees) with the objective of facilitating access refugee women in the labor market.

Finally, the Emergency Architects Foundation is also setting up a distance higher education cycle for Afghan students.

Almond Garden, in women's prisons in Afghanistan

"Almond Garden", report in the daily of women's prisons in Afghanistan

According to several NGOs, the Afghan justice system turns victims of abuse into criminals by accusing them of "moral crimes".

Photo Gabriela Maj

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

"The majority of women in prisons have been convicted of moral crimes and are serving sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years." 

Photo Gabriela Maj

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

“In some cases, women have fled the abusive home of a father or husband or left with partners their families did not approve of.

"

Photo Gabriela Maj

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

“Some women are serving sentences because they have been raped or are guilty of adultery.

"

Photo Gabriela Maj

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

Almond Garden, in the daily life of women's prisons in Afghanistan

See the slideshow

18 photos

Forced to hide

In civil society, many have taken over, such as Nazish Munchenbach, an entrepreneur of Pakistani origin now based in Paris. Last August, thanks to the New York NGO Westchester Women's Agenda, she discovered the story of Farzana Ehsas. Until the Taliban came to power, this 23-year-old Afghan girl worked as a journalist and humanitarian officer, giving training on domestic violence in rural areas. “Going out into the streets without wearing a veil was tolerated, even though we lived in a conservative society,” she recalls.

From August 15, his world crumbles.

“I didn't want to believe it.

At first, I thought about staying, resisting. ”

But the noose tightens around her, the young woman must face the facts.

To stay alive, he must flee.

After weeks in hiding, she manages to flee clandestinely to Islamabad, with the help of Nazish Munchenbach and the NGO Pourvoir feministe.

She will stay there for a fortnight before obtaining her visa for France.

In Paris now, Farzana is just beginning to realize.

“I have to take control of my life and find out what I'm going to do.

I also don't want to forget my country, my family, my friends who stayed there.

I want to fight for the freedom of my country and especially of Afghan women. ”

To listen to: the editorial podcast

Get a visa

In her office in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, international jurist Céline Bardet is also struggling to help the Afghans she knows and in particular to rescue Adeba, who worked for the NGO WWoW (We Are Not Weapons of War, founded by Céline Bardet in 2014). Adeba, a mother of three young children, married to a journalist, is particularly targeted by the Taliban. A teacher and feminist activist, she has been an activist for years in her country. "She and her family had to leave their apartment and live in hiding until I managed to get them a visa for Islamabad," recalls Céline Bardet. For weeks they saw the horror. Their neighbors were killed a few meters from them, some of their colleagues were murdered. Today in Pakistan,the five of them live in a hotel room funded by WWoW. “They won't be able to last like this for weeks on end. We are waiting for France to issue them a visa, which takes time, the children are out of school, they will not be able to last forever, ”she regrets. The lawyer believes that the administrative mechanisms for obtaining a visa must be more adapted to the emergency situation. "The crisis in Afghanistan has affected the French, but today an emergency team should be created so that everything is centralized, that the files are processed more quickly and easily."The lawyer believes that the administrative mechanisms for obtaining a visa must be more adapted to the emergency situation. "The crisis in Afghanistan has affected the French, but today an emergency team should be created so that everything is centralized, that the files are processed more quickly and easily."The lawyer believes that the administrative mechanisms for obtaining a visa must be more adapted to the emergency situation. "The crisis in Afghanistan has affected the French, but today an emergency team should be created so that everything is centralized, that the files are processed more quickly and easily."

Solidarity is organized

Through donations to NGOs

Free Afghanistan: afghanistan-libre.org

Negar-Support for women in Afghanistan: negar-afghanwomen.org

We Are Not Weapons of War: notaweaponofwar.org

Amitié Mères Afghanes: amitie-meres-afghanes.fr

Actions Santé Femmes: actions-sante -femmes.org

Through actions in the field

Emmaüs, France Terre Asile and the Refugee House collect clothes and hygiene products.

It is also possible to get in touch with NGOs and associations to welcome Afghan women who have just arrived in France.

The Free in Afghanistan calendar can be ordered at helloasso.com

To find out more, the gaze of the great war reporter Patrick Chauvel, who has photographed all the conflicts of the last fifty years, is invaluable.

Returning in the fall of three weeks in Afghanistan, he is the author of a major exhibition at the Caen Memorial, where he is in residence.

memorial-caen.fr

On the policy side

On November 25, on the International Day of Combating Violence Against Women, Senator Annick Billon (Centrist Union, Vendée), president of the Senate women's rights delegation, organized a round table dedicated to Afghan women and women. actions that France and the international community can consider. “We must think of those, a majority, who have not been able to flee and live under Sharia law, and who, victims of human trafficking, remain in danger. For them, we must dialogue with the Taliban, not to endorse their actions but to keep the pressure on them, ”said the senator. Many actions are discussed, such as forcing countries that want to participate in the next Olympic Games to have mixed delegations. Since August,Afghan women no longer have any rights, not even the right to play sports. Since their body must disappear.

The editorial team advises you

• Kim Kardashian financed the repatriation of an Afghan football team fleeing the Taliban

• "Hands off my clothes": when Afghan women pose in traditional attire to oppose the Taliban

• "I'm on their blacklist": meeting with Zarifa Ghafari, the Afghan mayor who escaped the Taliban