Afghan Women March in Kabul To Protest Their ‘Horrific Condition’

More than a dozen Afghan women protested briefly near Shah-Do Shamshira Mosque in Kabul on Thursday, calling for their rights to be recognized on the eve of the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Afghan women have been squeezed out of public life since the Taliban’s return to power in August last year but small groups have staged flash protests that are usually quickly shut down, sometimes violently. “We will fight for our rights to the end and we will not surrender,” read a sign in the Dari language carried by one of the protesters. Another protester carried a sign in English reading, “Horrific condition of Afghan women is a blot of shame to the world conscience!” As they marched, they chanted “women, life, solidarity,” echoing the “women, life, freedom” slogan of protesters against the Islamist regime in Iran. Most of the group wore dark sunglasses, their heads covered with veils and surgical masks obscuring their faces.