I am fine, and like every other day for the last months, I started the day by reading the news and responding to the messages and emails about the human rights violations in Afghanistan, and communicating with the human rights activists, with the goal of advocacy for women's rights.

I was born in a highly marginalized community in Afghanistan, in which there was systematic discrimination against women. There were no schools for girls in my village and no females with even the lowest literacy. I was fortunate that my parents supported my education and resided in places, where I could access education. While I was in secondary school, I devoted my full attention to getting insights on discrimination against women. I framed it as a problem, understood its severity, and decided to work towards finding solutions. I envisioned a future where all men and women could have equal rights and opportunities. Before the collapse of the government in 2021, I was serving as a Commissioner at the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), as head of the Women Rights Protection and Promotion Unit (WPU). I closely worked with the victims, government entities, civil society, and the international community. I had always one goal to achieve, and that was to contribute to the assurance of justice in the country, especially to ensure equal rights for women.

I helped reform laws on marriage, virginity tests, divorce, transgender rights, and sexual harassment. I advocated for women's meaningful participation in the Afghan society. As head of the Women Rights Protection and Promotion Unit (WPU), I strategized the objectives and strengthened their potential for implementation. The WPU, under my leadership, designed and implemented interventions that enhanced coordination and communication between the stakeholders. I particularly worked on the cases of sexual harassment and violence against women. It was likewise crucial to enable Afghan women so that they could participate in the Afghan peace process. Every year, my team registered and processed around 5,000 cases of domestic violence and would help the victims to access justice institutions.

Before the Taliban, we had a legal and policy framework for protecting and promoting women human rights lawyers. There was a solid political will among the diverse decision-makers for supporting women lawyers. However, there were constant security threats. In 2020, two of my colleagues were killed, and we received several intimidations. Every day, I received messages from the human rights defenders about the threats they were receiving both from warlords and the Taliban. Nevertheless, those under the severe threats would eventually find a space and manage their human rights activism. Now, it is a much different context. There is neither laws for the protection and promotion of human rights, nor exclusive attorney or courts to prosecute cases of violence against women. Politically speaking, the de facto regime lacks the commitment to the women's rights. Today, human rights defenders are suppressed; they are hiding because of their activism. Some are already threatened, imprisoned, tortured, and even murdered. As a matter of fact, there is no safe space for them to live in Afghanistan.

Throughout my work at Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, I advocated for the punishment of the criminals convicted of women's rights violations. Some of them were members of the Taliban, and other influential people with strong political, economic, and social power. After the Taliban returned, as they were released from prison, they called many times and threatened my family and me, and were looking for us. We hid until the evacuation and turned off our cell phones and communication pipelines. My family and I got assistance for evacuation and left the country, while watching the destruction of my years-long efforts and hopes. I left everything behind; my career, the basis I made for change, and years-long work achievements. It was a total disaster for me. Even now after months, I am not able to overcome the trauma and stress.

The leadership of the AIHRC was evacuated, and we are trying to relocate the remaining staff and colleagues. The AIHRC’s activities is suspended in Afghanistan. The Taliban occupies our office, and they are not allowing anyone to enter the building. In a volunteer capacity, my colleagues and I advocate for women's rights. If the current political trend of suppression continues, human rights defenders will be continuously persecuted, and forced to leave the country.