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Photo: AFP The Taliban Supreme Court has announced that a woman and a man were flogged in public in Nangarhar province on charges of having an extramarital relationship. According to a statement released by the court on Tuesday (April 29), the two individuals were flogged in the Deh Bala district of Nangarhar. The released information indicates that each of them was sentenced to 39 lashes. This comes as the Taliban Supreme Court had also announced the previous day that two people, including a woman, were flogged in public in Sar-e Pol province on charges of having an extramarital relationship. These individuals were sentenced to two years and one year in prison, and 29 and 25 lashes respectively. It is worth noting that despite widespread international condemnation, the Taliban’s summary courts continue. Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized these actions, but the Taliban remain committed to carrying out such punishments in public and continuing their summary courts.

Sent to Zan TV In Ghor Province, a girl set herself on fire to escape a forced marriage. The incident has once again drawn attention to the fate of Afghan girls under Taliban rule. On April 27, 2025, in the village of "Darzab Nili" in the Taywara district of Ghor province, a young girl named Abida bint Mohammad Alam set herself on fire in response to pressure for a forced marriage. She succumbed to her injuries shortly after due to the severity of the burns. The girl's family claims that a few days before the incident, the Taliban had visited their house and arrested Abida's father and two brothers. Local sources suggest that the reason for the arrest was the family's opposition to her forced marriage to a Taliban member. So far, official Taliban sources have not commented on the incident. In recent years, several reports from human rights organizations and independent media have been published, highlighting the increase in forced marriages and child marriages in various provinces of Afghanistan. The United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International have repeatedly expressed their concerns about the severe restrictions on the rights of women and girls under Taliban rule. In some of these reports, forced marriage has been described as a form of structural violence against women. Abida's self-immolation has drawn attention from both domestic and international media and has sparked widespread reactions on social media. Civil campaigns in the virtual space with hashtags such as #JusticeForAbida and #NoToForcedMarriage have called for accountability from international organizations regarding the situation of Afghan girls. Human rights experts say that self-immolation is often the last resort in response to psychological pressure, helplessness, and structural violence. In many cases, victims have no legal recourse or safe refuge to resist coercion. Abida is now deceased, but her story once again exposes a bitter reality: In Afghanistan, for many girls, there is no choice but to surrender or burn. Zan TV will continue to follow this case.

Image: Jim Huylebroek/The New York Times Systematic Polygamy and Sexual Violence under the Taliban Regime "They took her as the second wife; and I no longer had a mother." Maryam, a twelve-year-old girl from the Andar district of Ghazni province, tearfully recounts: "They took my mother. They said her husband was dead, and now she 'belongs' to a Taliban fighter." Later, she learned that her mother, without consent or approval, had been "married" as the second wife to one of the Taliban commanders. There was no witness, no legal contract, and no right of choice for that woman. Tradition or Tool of Domination? Forced Marriage, Polygamy, and Sexual Ownership of Women Since the Taliban's return to power on August 15, 2021, hundreds of Afghan women have fallen victim to forced marriages, imposed polygamy, and sexual violence. The Taliban, especially local commanders and armed individuals, have used their political and military dominance to impose second, third, and fourth marriages. According to the report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (before it was dissolved by the Taliban), at least 234 cases of forced marriages or imposed polygamy were recorded between September 2021 and June 2022. Human rights sources believe that these figures represent only the "tip of the iceberg" of the hidden crisis in the shadows of Afghanistan. A women's rights activist from Kabul, who wishes to remain anonymous due to Taliban threats, says, "The Taliban use religion to justify these actions, but the real goal is to seize control over women's bodies and autonomy." "They kept us in prison for sexual exploitation." Systematic Sexual Violence in Taliban Detention Centers Monira, a former civil rights activist, has a harrowing account from Kandahar prison: "I was raped for three consecutive nights. Every night, a different commander came. If I resisted, they threatened to kill me." "They forced me to divorce my husband so that I could become the third wife of a local Taliban commander. Later, I found out that his first and second wives were also forcibly married, just like me." According to findings by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the Taliban have used sexual violence in numerous cases as a tool for control, torture, and punishment of women. However, access for international organizations to Taliban prisons remains limited and prohibited. Other Stories of Silence and Humiliation Zainab, a fifteen-year-old girl from Faryab, was forced into a marriage with a Taliban judge simply because her family could not pay the ransom money. Nazia, a widow from the Washir district in Helmand, was directly threatened with death and forced to marry a Taliban commander: "They told me: either you become this man's wife, or all of you will be killed for 'apostasy'." Obaidullah, the father of one of the victims from Khogyani, Nangarhar, says: "Either I gave my daughter, or they would kill all of us." What do the United Nations and International Organizations say? Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a report from December 2023 warned: "We have increasing evidence of the systematic violation of Afghan women's sexual and reproductive rights in detention centers and forced marriages in Taliban-controlled areas." The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) in its 2024 annual report wrote: "Taliban-affiliated men have, in numerous cases, forced women into marriage without consent and under threats. Some refer to these marriages as 'war spoils'." "Sexual Apartheid" in the Shadow of Global Power Vacuum Maryam Qureshi, an Afghan human rights lawyer in Germany, emphasizes: "What is happening in Afghanistan is a system of sexual apartheid. The Taliban use marriage, imprisonment, rape, and forced divorces to weaken and control women." She calls for the establishment of a United Nations truth commission to document sexual crimes and investigate the possibility of prosecuting the Taliban for crimes against humanity. Conclusion: Neither Tradition, Nor Religion – But a Tool of War Against Women's Bodies While the international community engages in discussions for interaction or recognition of the Taliban, women in Afghanistan, from Faryab to Kandahar, from Ghazni to Nangarhar, face daily humiliation, forced marriages, and rape. If the silence continues, history will not only judge the Taliban but also the indifference of the global community.

Photo: Paula Bronstein/hrw The darkness of the Taliban’s cruel restrictions has cast a black, heavy shadow over little Mahtab’s life. She is one of 160 million child laborers in the world, running from dawn to dusk in one of Afghanistan’s major cities, straining her voice to sell five-Afghani gum in order to afford the medicine that cost thousand Afghani for her suffering mother. The clock shows 7:10 in the morning, and I find Mahtabi in a corner of Herat city, hidden deep in sorrow and grief. A sorrow that bends the strong shoulders of adults and weakens the sturdy arms of the youth. The pain of not having money for her mother’s treatment, who lies ill at home, on one side, and the lack of a breadwinner, being an orphan, the empty table, and the sorrow of her two little sisters' hungry stomachs on the other, all weigh heavily on this child laborer's small shoulders. Mahtab, a 13-year-old girl lost from morning until evening in the dust and smoke of Herat’s traffic, says she wakes up early in the hope of selling more gum, but she skips breakfast so she can arrive at the Maref Square of Herat city earlier than other working children. "I try to get here earlier than all the other boys and girls. Some people buy gum from me and don’t take their change. Some days, I don’t even earn fifty Afghanis. My mother is sick, I work so I can take her to the doctor." I try to move closer to her so I can hear the voice buried in her choking sorrow more clearly, but in this square, the noise of vehicles, which seem to outnumber the passengers, drowns out Mahtab’s trembling, childlike voice. Wearing a wrinkled white headscarf and a black coat, clothing that carries a bundle of memories for millions of girls in Afghanistan, she waves her hand and calls out, trying to draw the attention of passengers and drivers toward herself. All of Mahtab’s effort is to earn between 50 to 100 Afghanis by selling a pack of gum, so she can give the money to her mother to either buy medicine or spend it on food for the family. "I don’t sell gum here for myself. We have no one to work. My father passed away, and my mother is sick. Sometimes at night when I go home, my mother takes the money I’ve earned to either buy bread or medicine for herself." Her dust-covered face and cracked hands tell the story of Mahtab’s difficult life. She says that in the past, her mother used to support their family of four by working in people’s homes. But now, as the oldest member of the family, she has been forced to carry that heavy burden herself. "My mother used to go to people’s houses and wash their clothes, clean their homes, and sometimes do tailoring. But now she is sick. The doctors have said she needs surgery. Right now, my mother has no money to get treatment." Slowly, the sunlight begins to shine more brightly on the streets of Herat and on Mahtab’s body, and the number of children who share her fate at Maref Square in Herat increases. Other young boys and girls also come to this place to work in their own ways and take home a few Afghanis by evening. These working children sometimes argue and get into fights, and sometimes they are friends and smile at each other. But Mahtab stays mostly focused on selling her gum. She is less concerned about the future and more absorbed in the worries of today. She is thinking about how to make it through this day and return home with something in hand. A home where a sick mother and two little sisters wait for food and bread. "If I don’t work, how will we find bread tonight? Sometimes my little sisters cry and say we don’t have anything to eat. I have to sell a lot of gum, because if my mother doesn’t take her medicine, she can’t sleep at night. She just sits and cries." With each passing moment, as the warm sunlight shines brighter, the air in Herat grows hotter. Yet the exhaustion and hopelessness on Mahtab’s face become even more visible. It is twelve noon, and no sound comes from Mahtab’s throat. She has been shouting for hours through the dust of Herat’s main road to sell just a few more pieces of gum. With her hoarse voice, she tries to make people understand that she needs the money from selling these gums. But her cries, mixed with the roar of cars and traffic noise, do not reach the ears of many passersby. Mahtab, with a voice full of pain and sorrow, says, "Today again I made no money. Only a few people hear my voice. No one listens to me. I just wish that today I could sell one pack of gum by the evening." Mahtab also dreams of going to school, building her future, playing like other children, and enjoying life. But she says that even thinking about these things would keep her from being able to provide dinner for her family. "I also want to play like others, jump rope, go to school so one day I can help my people. But if I start thinking about those things now, then tonight we will all have to go to sleep hungry." Mahtab says her father served as a soldier in the Afghan National Army during the Republic. But in the early days of the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Taliban, he was killed by a landmine in Zawal district of Herat province. "My father was in the army. It was around sunset when our phone rang. My mother answered, then she started crying and said, 'Mahtabak, you have become orphan.'" Mahtab is not the only one who has become the breadwinner of her family due to the absence of a guardian. More than seven thousand children in Herat province are experiencing the same fate as Mahtab, or even worse.

Photo: Stefanie Glinski The Humanitarian Crisis Amid the Forced Deportation of Afghan Refugees from Pakistan Migration, at first glance, may seem like merely a movement from one land to another. But for the Afghan woman, migration often means fleeing death, escaping the shadow of the whip, breaking free from the prison of ignorance, and struggling to survive with human dignity. The Afghan woman, in recent decades, has become a symbol of resistance against tyranny. She did not fall silent under the burqa, she taught in secret classrooms, she fought with her pen and camera, and she struggled for a voice that others always tried to silence. With the Taliban's return to power in the summer of 2021, all of Afghan women’s achievements collapsed. Thousands of women who had been active in government institutions, the media, the military, and civil organizations were overnight turned into targets of suppression and elimination. Threats, persecution, arrests, and in some cases, murder were part of the price women paid for their independence and enlightenment. For many of them, the only way to survive was to leave their homeland. But migration was not the end of their suffering, it became the beginning of an endless exile, full of uncertainty, fear, and abandonment. Today, in the streets and camps of Pakistan, the voices of women can be heard who were once the intellectual and social pillars of Afghanistan. Women who are now undocumented, unsupported, and on the verge of forced deportation. Their story is one of compounded discrimination, as migrants, as women, and as voices that the powerful do not want to hear. Forced Deportation: A Cruel Policy Against Refugees In October 2023, the government of Pakistan implemented a new policy requiring all foreign nationals without valid residence documents to leave the country. This decision, made without regard for the legal and security status of Afghan refugees, sparked a wave of concern within the refugee community. Former women activists, already threatened by the Taliban, now feel unsafe in the host country as well. According to data released by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior, by the end of 2024, more than 500,000 Afghan refugees had been deported from Pakistan without consideration of their humanitarian situation. Meanwhile, human rights organizations including Amnesty International have warned that the forced return of refugees, especially former women activists, could lead to torture, imprisonment, or even death. U.S. Immigration Policies: A Hope Turned Into Despair In January 2025, the Donald Trump administration suspended Afghan refugee admissions for a period of three months. This decision halted the resettlement process for more than 20,000 Afghans who were awaiting relocation to the United States. Many of these individuals were women who had been at risk due to their collaboration with American institutions, media outlets, aid organizations, or human rights groups. In April 2025, the Trump administration also revoked Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 14,600 Afghans and 7,900 Cameroonians residing in the United States. This move signaled the end of temporary protections for these individuals and increased the risk of their deportation from the country. Women’s Stories: From Hope to Despair Noria Sakandari, a former employee in the Human Rights Division of Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security, fled to Pakistan after the fall of Kabul. She says, "My case was registered under the P2 program. The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad told me to wait. Now two years have passed, and with the arrival of the Trump administration, no response has come. We have been erased from the list of human beings." Samira Ebrahimi, a former journalist for a reputable media outlet in Kabul who is now a member of the Federation of Afghan Journalists in Exile and currently living in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, says, "When the Taliban shut down my news agency, I fled Afghanistan overnight. In Pakistan, I hoped my voice would not be silenced. But today, I even feel watched here." Maliha, a former officer in the Afghan National Army, represents a story of both pain and courage. After the fall of Kabul, she entered Pakistan alone through smuggling routes. With a wounded body and a troubled soul, she now lives in a refugee camp near Islamabad. She says, "I laid down my weapon to save my life, but even here I have no safety. I am a woman, a former soldier, and a restless soul longing for my homeland." Global Reactions: Silence or Powerlessness? Despite repeated warnings from international organizations, the Pakistani government has continued deporting refugees. Human Rights Watch stated in a report, "The forced deportation of asylum seekers who face threats upon return to Afghanistan is a violation of the 1951 Refugee Convention." However, despite these warnings, Western countries have also remained silent in the face of this crisis. The United States’ strict immigration policies in 2024 significantly reduced the acceptance of cases filed by Afghan women. According to recent data from the U.S. immigration office, only 8 percent of asylum applications from Afghan women who were active during the republic have been approved. An Uncertain Ending, an Unclear Future The future of these women is shrouded in uncertainty. The world, which once sang songs of equality for the rights of Afghan women, now seems either powerless or indifferent as it watches their suffering. This report is an echo of the silenced voices of women who, caught between escape and erasure, hold on to a faint hope for justice. The wounds of migration have neither healed nor been acknowledged. Pakistan continues to deport, and the world is still just watching.

Photo: AP Our Homeland"A Story of Unaccompanied Afghan Women Deported from Iran The Islam Qala border is not just a geographic line between two countries these days; it is a line between hope and despair — between mothers who left Afghanistan in search of a better life and now return empty-handed, a child in their arms, to a place where no one is waiting for them. Arezo, a 34-year-old unaccompanied woman, is one of the hundreds of women recently deported to Afghanistan. She says: "I was in Iran for eleven years. My husband was an addict and passed away three years ago. I worked, I took care of my mother and the children myself. But now, with only the clothes on our backs, they threw us here. They said: You're illegal, you have to leave." Next to her stands Somayeh — a young woman with two small daughters: one six years old and the other only two and a half. She says: "My husband abandoned us. I used to sew and work to raise these two. I had no support, no income, no security. And now they’ve kicked us out of Iran as well. We slept the first night at customs. I don’t even know where I’ll be tonight." These mothers are just a few examples of a new wave of deportations of unaccompanied Afghan women from Iran — deportations in which there is no assessment of individual circumstances, no access to legal services, and not even a chance to defend oneself. This is while, according to the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 Protocol, no asylum seeker should be returned to a country where they face the threat of violence, persecution, or serious human rights violations. This fundamental principle, known as non-refoulement, is clearly stated in international law. Despite this, Iran has deported tens of thousands of Afghan migrants in recent months — including unaccompanied women and children. Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and UNHCR have repeatedly warned that this process constitutes a clear violation of the rights of migrants and asylum seekers. Inside Afghanistan, there is no specific support mechanism for returnees. These women, after crossing the border, have no home, no cash assistance, and no psychological services. One Taliban official in Islam Qala says: "We don’t have enough resources. We house some of them with the help of locals in mosques and hospitals, but their situation is truly critical." Arezo says at the end: "I never thought I’d be deported from Iran. I never thought my own homeland wouldn’t have a place for me either. I look at my children and just ask: what do we do now? Where do we go?" And Somayeh, holding her little daughter close to her chest, whispers quietly: "We were just women. Just mothers. But it seems like that is the greatest crime in the world."

Exclusive Although women have no place in the Taliban’s all‑male government and this group is globally notorious for its misogyny, a woman named Ahu Bashiri paved the streets and alleys of Zahkan village in Anar Dara district of Farah province by selling half a kilogram of gold and 30,000 US dollars. She stated that the purpose of her action was to save the people of her hometown from respiratory diseases caused by dust, and she says she is working to build a hall for the people of this village by selling one more kilogram of gold and some other cash. “I sold half a kilogram of gold and I also had thirty thousand dollars. I thought this money shouldn’t be lost, so I cemented all the alleys of my village, because I saw people, young and old, buried under dirt and dust. If God wills, I have another kilogram of gold and I will build a hall here.” Ahu Bashiri, 70, says that she left Zahkan village due to insecurity during the previous Taliban regime and moved to Herat province. However, after nearly thirty years, she has now returned to her village to help her people. “Thirty years ago, my husband passed away. I saw there was no other way, so I took my orphaned children and went to Herat. Gradually, my sons began working, and this money and gold are from them—they gave it to me. Now, I am donating my share to the people, because I am ill and may not survive.” However, Ezzatullah Bashiri, who is himself one of the businessmen of Farah province, says that his mother has also provided solar power for the residents of this village, which now lights up the dark alleys at night. He adds that more than 150 solar panels have been installed in the village with the help of his generous mother. On the other hand, the residents of Zahkan village have welcomed Ahu Bashiri’s support and are calling on the Taliban to take action in the areas of healthcare and establishing schools, especially for girls. Younis, one of the villagers, says: “The most important need in this village is for our daughters to be educated. We are very happy with this mother’s work, but we ask the government to allow our daughters to study so that generous women like her can build schools and learning centers for them.” Nevertheless, the Taliban have described Ms. Bashiri’s initiative as important and impactful, emphasizing the need for public cooperation with their single-gender government. Hayatullah Muhajir Farahi, the Deputy Minister of Publications at the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, stated: “Men and women must stand alongside the government and the Islamic Emirate, because without the people, the state cannot progress. Traders must also take part in the development of the country.” Ahu Bashiri has undertaken the reconstruction of her village at a time when thousands of women and girls, due to economic difficulties and the Taliban's restrictions on women working outside the home, have been forced into begging or even sex work.

Ali Khara/REUTERS Hunger and lack of sufficient food have caused widowed and unaccompanied women to forget the pain and suffering of loneliness and having no guardian. Anar, a 70-year-old widow, left her home in Ghormach district of Badghis province seven years ago due to war and insecurity and took refuge in Herat. She says hunger and lack of access to adequate food have taken away her ability to walk. This elderly woman, who spends her days and nights alone in a small mud house covered with wooden beams, says with a tearful voice that she is always waiting in hope that her neighbors — all of whom are internally displaced — will help her with a piece of bread. "I have no one. I swear to God, some nights I don’t even have a piece of bread to eat and I go to sleep hungry. Sometimes people and our neighbors, who are also poor, bring me a piece of dry bread. Look, I’ve kept these dry, moldy breads out of fear of going hungry. I soak them in a glass of water to soften them and eat them again." As Anar shows her dry and moldy pieces of bread, she says that some time ago, her only 15-year-old son went to Iran through illegal routes, but he died after falling from a high-rise building while working as a laborer. She complains about the unfair distribution of humanitarian aid by the Taliban and says this group distributes aid to their relatives and associates. Bibi Sanam, a 68-year-old unaccompanied woman, sits under the sunlight, threading colorful beads together with a needle and thread in her hand, trying to earn enough to buy even a single piece of dry bread. She says that although her eyesight is weak and she is advanced in age, she is forced to work. Sanam also says she is too weak from hunger to walk. She calls on the Taliban and aid organizations to provide food assistance to unaccompanied women. "I swear to God, I can’t walk — I’m too hungry. I work from morning till night just to earn ten or twenty Afghanis so I can buy one piece of dry bread at night. Our request is that the government help us." This widowed woman, whose face reflects deep despair, says that not only does she lack access to food, but she is also ill. However, health centers under Taliban control do not provide services to her or others like her. Sanam, complaining about inhumane treatment at one of the health centers, says: "I used to always go to the nearby clinic when I got sick, but now they say this clinic used to belong to the Americans and we used to give you medicine, but now we can’t help you anymore." Ghuncha Gul, another widowed woman who threads beads alongside Sanam, has not been spared from economic hardship and poverty. Like other unaccompanied and widowed women, she speaks of the pain of hunger. "What can I say? I have no son and no daughter to work for me. I live alone. I went to my neighbor’s house to borrow some oil. I live in someone else’s house, and if the neighbors give me a piece of bread, that’s good. If not, I go hungry." It is worth noting that after the Taliban came to power in August 2021, work, education, and schooling for women and girls were banned in the country. Many women who were the breadwinners of their families have been forced to either beg for food or resort to sex work to survive.

Photo: Public Domain via PICRYL / GetArchive The Taliban held a ceremony in Kabul on Thursday (20 March) to mark the start of the 1404 academic year. However, it was observed that even after four years of depriving girls of education, the lock of this misogynistic government remains on the gates of education and learning for girls. Some young girls in Afghanistan told Zan TV that they had hoped that in the new academic year (1404) the doors of school and university would be opened for them, but the Taliban have deprived girls and women of their right to education solely on the basis of their gender. These schoolgirls say that they are dead, both mentally and spiritually, because by continuing the ban on education, the Taliban have deprived them of the right to mental and intellectual growth. Asiyeh Ghafouri, the girl who deprived from school in the province of Farah, says that by closing the school doors for girls, the Taliban have not only deprived her of her rights but also destroyed her hopes and life. "When the school door was closed, I was in ninth grade. I really loved studying and achieving my dreams, but now—not only has my right to education been taken away, they've taken my life from me. I've become mentally unstable; I suffer from depression so severe that I see a psychologist every day, yet it’s all in vain. I've attempted suicide many times, but I haven't succeeded in ending my life. I feel that even living has taken away my right to die." Kobra, a 14-year-old girl who completed her sixth grade three months ago at one of Herat’s schools, tearfully told Zan TV: "I wish I had failed school so that I could have stayed one more year with my friends and classmates; why don’t the Taliban allow us? When we go to school, are we committing prostitution?" Suraya Nabizada, another girl deprived of education in Badghis province, says in a tearful voice: "I studied until the 11th grade, but it has been nearly four years since I was banned from going to school. I completely feel dead, both mentally and spiritually, because the Taliban do not allow us to study and grow. If the school doors had not been closed, I would now be studying one of my favorite fields at a university, but the Taliban took this right away from me." Meanwhile, the start of the new academic year in Afghanistan without the presence of girls has sparked strong reactions from human rights activists and international organizations. Shaharzad Akbar, the head of the Rawadari Human Rights Organization, wrote on the X platform that the Taliban held the academic year's opening ceremony in Kabul without the presence of women and girls. She added that the ban on girls' education is heartbreaking and, in her words, a sign of gender apartheid in Afghanistan. The academic year 1404 begins while girls above the sixth grade have been deprived of schooling for nearly four years. The Taliban have repeatedly spoken about working on a plan to create a "safe educational environment" in accordance with their self-defined version of Islamic Sharia. However, these promises have yet to be fulfilled and remain unclear.

Photo: Wakil Kohsar, AFP One day after March 17 (National Journalists Day in the country), the Afghanistan Journalists Center reported a new ban by the Taliban on broadcasting women's voices from media outlets. In a report, the organization stated that the Taliban’s Information and Culture Department has issued a new directive to the media in this province, instructing them to refrain from broadcasting women's voices. Nevertheless, female journalists in Afghanistan have criticized the Taliban’s extensive restrictions on the activities of women and girls in the media, saying that by issuing decrees and imposing limitations, the Taliban have eliminated women from political organizations, and now it is time to remove women from the media community. Freshta Bator, one of the female journalists, said in a mocking and sarcastic tone that the Taliban issued this ban on the occasion of National Journalists Day and as a reward for the efforts and achievements of women journalists. Bator told Zan TV: "By God, it's shameful—just look at what the world thinks. Look at our Muslim rulers, who are scheming every day on how to destroy women; every day they impose another ban on women's activities. It is truly disgraceful—perhaps they issued this ban on National Journalists Day and in support of women." Nargis Samim, another female journalist, said, "The Taliban's actions are unacceptable. They think that all people are simpletons from the plains and mountains, while people's minds have changed so much that it will never be possible for the Taliban to silence the voices of the people." Nevertheless, media activists say that female journalists also have suffered the most over the past twenty years; as soon as the path for their media work became somewhat open, the Taliban silenced their voices. Diana Soroush, one of the media activists, said: "In the beginning, Afghan women experienced many harms, including family restrictions, negative societal attitudes, and even assassinations. But when, about eight to ten years ago, broader opportunities for them became available, the Taliban took power and destroyed all of women's achievements." It is worth noting that recently, not only have the Taliban imposed additional restrictions and bans on the activities of female journalists, but following the issuance of these decrees, domestic media in Afghanistan have also been forced to either cease operations or resort to self-censorship. This comes as Afghanistan ranked 178th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders index for 2024.