The Afghan Times and IUF Asia/Pacific, has launched a powerful new special edition, Locked Room: Afghan Women’s Voices, to mark International Women’s Day.
Speaking at the launch, Salma Niazi, Editor-in-Chief of The Afghan Times, called on people across the world to support Afghan women in their ongoing fight for rights and dignity under Taliban rule.
Launching the special edition, Editor Salma Niazi said:
We ask people to take a moment to reflect on the resilience, courage, and struggles of Afghan women, whose voices are too often silenced, yet whose strength continues to inspire the world.
This is a call to remember, to amplify, and to stand in solidarity. The struggles described here are not distant; they are urgent, and they demand our attention. Awareness is power, and every conversation sparked by these pages is a step toward justice.”
The 133-page special edition of The Afghan Times and IUF Asia/Pacific bring together firsthand accounts of Afghan women who continue to resist oppression, defy bans on education, and fight for fundamental freedoms despite severe restrictions imposed by the Taliban.
A System of Oppression
Dr. Muhammad Hidayat Greenfield, Asia/Pacific Regional Secretary of the IUF, described the Taliban’s systematic efforts to erase women from public life:
In the three years and seven months since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, there have been dozens of new policies, decrees, directives, and regulations at national and provincial levels designed to remove women from every aspect of public life. The purpose is to lock women away in their homes, to be unseen and unheard in society. Each new law, decree, or regulation is like another iron bar, another lock, added to the cage in which women and girls are imprisoned.
Dr. Greenfield urged the international community to take action:
Just as women refuse to be silenced within Afghanistan, we must not remain silent internationally. The hope of women in Afghanistan, as expressed in these courageous stories, must be met with international solidarity. Their courage and our humanity demand it.
A Voice for Afghan Women
The Afghan Times continues to be a leading voice in the fight for Afghan women’s rights. The publication has anonymous reporters inside Afghanistan, working at great personal risk to document the realities on the ground.
Through Locked Room: Afghan Women’s Voices, The Afghan Times and IUF Asia/Pacific aim to ensure that Afghan women’s stories are heard, their struggles recognized, and their calls for justice answered.
