Hazara women from Afghanistan living in Australia have launched a 12-month campaign to raise awareness for the women and girls under the oppressive Taliban rule.
The campaign, titled We stand with women and girls in Afghanistan, was launched on International Women’s Day (Friday 8 March) by the advocacy organisations Rural Australians for Refugees, Women for Change and Azadi-e Zan, targeted at governments and organisations to take action.
However, it was a group of Hazara women living in the rural Victorian town of Shepparton that drove the establishment of the 12-month advocacy campaign, supported by the Goulburn Valley Women’s Association.
Hamida Samar is one such woman involved in the creation of the campaign. She lives in Mansfiled, Victoria, after escaping the Taliban’s oppression in Afghanistan and arriving in Australia on a humanitarian visa in March 2023.
As a former worker in the Ministry of Defence in Afghanistan, Samar was in particular danger of persecution from the Taliban.
“It is so important that the world raises its voice in support of women and girls in Afghanistan,” Samar said.
“Young women and girls in Afghanistan can no longer leave the house without male protection. They are being kidnapped and subjected to horrific persecution, including imprisonment, forced marriage and rape.”
Women and girls have become more vulnerable in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over once again in August 2021.
However, the situation for women and girls has become much worse particularly in the last six months; now, women and girls are no longer able to leave the house without a male relative. Even so, they are still vulnerable to attacks.
“Married women are forced to carry their marriage certificate as proof that the man with them is their husband. If they forget their certificate, they also face imprisonment, forced marriage and rape,” Samar said.
“Women cannot talk about their experiences on social media or elsewhere as they will become a direct target of the Taliban.”
Afghanistan is the only country in the world that prohibits girls’ education after the age of 12. Women are only allowed to work in female designated areas like health care – if they can work at all, as many young girls are forced into marriage with Taliban soldiers.
For five years, advocacy organisation Women for Change, founded by Lida Hazara Nayeeb, has been working with women and girls in Afghanistan, empowering them through education and training.
“It is 29 months and 25 days that girls and women in Afghanistan are locked up in a very dark cage,” Lida Hazara Nayeeb said.
“They are physically removed from society, hidden in their dwellings and the light of education is turned off. It is inhumane that a regime closes education doors for girls.
“Women and girls in Afghanistan have no hope that they will be free to live normal lives; their only hope is the support of women around the world.
“Please do not forget them, advocate for them, stand up for them, break their cages and free them.”
Executive Director of Azadi-e Zan Susan Hutchison has urged the federal government to do more to support women and girls in Afghanistan.
“Women and women’s human rights defenders are at extremely high risk of violence and persecution,” Hutchison said.
“The Australian Government needs to urgently find more creative ways to support education, hope and opportunity for all women and girls in Afghanistan. This includes prioritising visa processing for women at high risk, including women’s human rights defenders.”
Gillian Triggs is a former UN Assistant Secretary and Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, and is currently an Ambassador for Rural Australians for Refugees. She said it is vital for Australians to “speak up” about the human rights abuses happening in Afghanistan.
“The denial of education to girls over 12 years, and limited access for women to public spaces and employment, especially the targeting of Hazara women, violate fundamental principles of international human rights law. Bravo to rural communities and to the Goulburn Valley Women’s Association for their leadership and support.”