A woman is standing at the open window, her face turned away from us, looking into the distance. She wears a black headscarf and a patterned outer garment.

Hasti was born in 1997 and lives in Kabul as a single mother of a son: “My husband married another woman, but I am still not allowed to divorce him. I wish I could work.”

Dossier

Women’s rights in Afghanistan

When international troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, the radical Islamist terrorist militia of the Taliban seized control everywhere in the country. 

Everyday life has changed since the takeover. Women in particular have their basic rights restricted in all areas of life. Therefore, only Afghan women have their say in this dossier. Many can no longer work in their professions, while girls are only allowed to go to school up to grade 6. All women are forced to wear in full body veils when they move around the city. We asked them: What are their worries? And what does their future look like? 

October 2022

A young woman with a black headscarf and glasses sits sideways in the frame of a wooden entrance door. Through the door you can see several flat buildings and a few trees. The woman is looking towards the horizon. In her lap is an open book. She wears a white dress with a black pattern.
“It’s not just my body locked up at home; it’s also my mind”
Zakira, Kabul
Attended 11th grade before Taliban took power

Discover the printed issue

In addition to our country focus Afghanistan, our IV/2022 issue contained more reports, interviews and news items from around the world: 

Light and Shadow. How People of Color are portrayed in film - and what technology has to do with it. With Musquiqui Chiyhing 

Against white time. Writer Fatin Abbas on efficiency, productivity and community - through time

The Whale. A South Korean master novel about two women in a patriarchal society

Read now