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Afghan women demonstrate in Kabul's Shahr-e-Naw district on May 10, 2022 against the Taliban's new veil decree
Photo: Julian Busch / DER SPIEGEL
"Justice, justice!" yells a group of women as they march through Kabul's New Town, past grocery and clothing stores.
Passers-by stop and watch the scene.
The faces of the women are uncovered, in their hands they hold banners they have written themselves with the inscription »Don't take women hostage!«.
The twelve activists are demonstrating this Tuesday morning in May against the Taliban's new requirement to cover up, which calls on women to cover their faces except for their eyes and expressly recommends the burqa as the "best option" for this.
After a few minutes, armed Taliban arrive at the scene, surround the women and break up the demonstration.
The activists later reported that they were detained for several hours and released on condition that they would not take to the streets again.
Since the Taliban took power last August, there have been repeated protests and demonstrations against the new government's increasingly restrictive rules.
In addition to the latest requirement to cover up, women and men are no longer allowed to visit green spaces together.
In addition, schools for girls aged 12 and over are still closed.
Even if some of the women in the capital still walk the streets unveiled, a climate of fear and arbitrariness is spreading.
Failure to do so could result in the so-called male "guardians" of the women being fined or imprisoned.
Organized behind safe doors, activists still gather again and again to take to the streets together, as they did this morning.
This is a big risk for women.
The Taliban usually act brutally against the protesters and also try to prevent reporting by asking journalists to delete photo and video material.
In the following transcripts, three of the women who are fighting back against Taliban policies have their say.
The meetings took place clandestinely and hidden, in private gardens, secluded cafes, or in their homes.
Munawara S., 17, lives with her siblings and her mother in southern Kabul
»Since the Taliban took power, my sister and I only leave the house for essentials, to do family shopping.
Two days ago my sister wanted to celebrate her birthday with our family in a park.
We used to go out into the countryside for a picnic.
But just before we were about to leave, a relative called us and said that only men were allowed in the park.
That made me very sad.
I recently gave a speech at a conference of various stakeholders involved in education in Afghanistan, which was later also broadcast on Afghan television.
I shouted to the cameras that I want to go back to school, that we girls need education.
What else is going to become of our country if we no longer have doctors, judges or police officers?
At that moment I felt very strong and I thought, if I raise my voice, maybe other girls will.
Until two years ago I was able to go to a school in the south of Kabul.
First came the coronavirus, and then the Taliban banned the schools altogether.
We used to be 35 girls in a class.
Every morning at 9 o'clock we knocked on the school door full of anticipation and waited for the teacher to open for us.
My favorite subject was Dari.
I like reading books about our culture and also about psychology.
Many people in our country are depressed and traumatized by the consequences of the war.
Actually, I would now be in the 11th grade and I would go to school every morning.
Instead, I wake up every morning feeling so empty.
I try to keep myself busy at home, studying on my own.
But our internet connection is just too slow for online lessons.
If I could finish school, I would like to be a journalist.
I imagine how I could then help many people by reporting on the problems of our country.
I want to ask the right questions and bring the voices of ordinary people in Afghanistan to our government and to the rest of the world.«
Zouhlia P., 37, lives in Kabul with her husband, three daughters and two sons
Until the Taliban took power, the trained teacher worked as a secretary in the office of former Prime Minister Abdullah Abdullah under then President Ashraf Ghani. Today she is one of the main organizers of the women's protests in Kabul.
»When I go to a protest with other women, I always say goodbye to my whole family, including my children.
We never know what will happen, the Taliban have repeatedly threatened to send a suicide bomber.
We are 42 women who have come together to protest regularly.
We have held 22 demonstrations since last summer.
However, the Taliban almost always stop us after a few minutes and confiscate the journalists' cameras.
They are afraid that something might leak out.
Until the fall of the old government, I worked as a secretary in the Prime Minister's Office.
When the Taliban came to power, I lost my job.
I miss my work every day - even the smell of the office and having fun with my colleagues.
The Taliban want to remove us women from society, so they are now forcing us to wear a hijab or burqa.
But neither headgear has its origin in Afghanistan.
They come from Saudi Arabia or, like the burqa, from India.
After the announcement, I went to the bazaar with my daughters and my husband.
We filmed ourselves shopping without face coverings and sent the videos to friends and acquaintances.
We wanted to show them: look, we won't let ourselves be intimidated!
I would never wear a burqa, I would rather leave Afghanistan.
It constricts us and smothers us women to breathe, but the Taliban want us to wear them because they are afraid to see our bodies.
But we're not going to be intimidated by their threats.
Almost twenty years ago, Afghanistan's first democratic government gave us women the same rights that men have – in terms of education, work and self-determination.
The Taliban are trying to take them back from us, but we're not going to put them out of our minds."
Munece M., 31, studied law in Mazar-i-Sharif and then worked for a World Bank aid program
She lives as an unmarried woman with her parents in Kabul.
“I've been crying every day since the Taliban closed schools for girls.
I can hardly sleep.
I myself had a good childhood, was able to go to school and study law.
I was very happy for a while, but I know that as long as the Taliban are in power, it's wrong to have hope.
I think they will never change.
I have my father to thank for the fact that I can read and write today.
He really wanted me to go to school.
But back then it was very difficult.
We have a very conservative culture in Tachar Province, where I grew up.
When I was six years old, my father took me to boys' school.
I was the only girl in the class and after a year the teachers refused to continue teaching me.
A girl among many boys, that's not good.
My father then persuaded other families in the village to get enough girls together for their own class.
There was no school building back then.
During class we sat together in the shade of a tree in front of the mosque.
I think women are the foundation of any society.
They are the founders of families and should therefore be given the opportunity to get an education.
I'm also convinced that if we had had more education in our country, the Taliban would never have become so strong.
Educated people don't become terrorists.
It was only through education that I was able to become the person I am today: Today I know I have to fight for my rights and get my voice out on the streets.«
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