Inside Afghanistan, women lawyers are no longer allowed to practice law, and have a great need for connection, encouragement, and support. Through our innovative BRIDGE Project (Building Real Interactions to Drive Gender Equality), IANGEL connects with Afghan women lawyers in to provide professional, financial, and emotional support, which in turn empowers them to support their families and their communities. Using pseudonyms, participants in the BRIDGE project use their skills, insights, and resourcefulness to assist women experiencing violence and injustice under Taliban rule. To underscore the importance of this work, this is a report of a recent success by one of the BRIDGE participants.
By Mina, BRIDGE Project lead (inside Afghanistan)
In August 2021, the Taliban retook the power in Afghanistan, reestablishing a gender apartheid state and persecuting women and girls every day, in new and increasingly brutal ways. In November 2021, the Taliban regime dissolved the Afghanistan independent Bar Association, erasing all the accomplishments of the Association in the last decade. From 2008 to 2021, it had almost 6,000 members—of which 25% were women lawyers—who played a critical role in the patriarchal society of Afghanistan providing legal advice and advocacy for the clients particularly women to defend their rights and to seek legal remedies for violence against women. Before the Taliban banned women from governmental offices and national and international NGOs, as a first step, they prohibited women lawyers from practicing law or renewing their licenses.
This decision was not only an attack on women lawyers. It not only banned them from work, and deprived them of income to support their families, it was also an inhumane act to take away the hope for justice for thousands of women who are victims of domestic violence and discrimination and gender inequality in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime. But Marjan is determined to continue to use her skills to help other women:
“Every moment, I am facing the danger of revenge from the prisoners of the previous government who were imprisoned because of my advocacy. But I am ready to support and help the oppressed women of my country. Because I believe in myself that I have the ability and skill to help and solve the problem.”
— Marjan Ahmadi (pseudonym)
Marjan, an Afghan lawyer who was practicing as defense lawyer and fighting against violence against women for more than 10 years, has been unable to work as a lawyer because of the Taliban’s restrictions.
In early 2024, Marjan joined a team of dedicated US lawyers who established a project called BRIDGE with other female lawyers who are banned from practicing law in different of provinces of Afghanistan. The project focuses on supporting women lawyers inside Afghanistan, and thereby allowing them to provide legal advice and support for women experiencing gender violence in Afghanistan. Additionally, giving women lawyers the opportunity to keep working and engaging their skills allows them to make the best use of their time, and helps maintain their knowledge and advocacy skills. The main propose remains supporting women who are brave enough to submit their cases in the court, even under the Taliban regime. While the Taliban’s justice system ignores and doesn’t listen to women in order to solve their cases, BRIDGE project participants will continue to work to give them their rights and justice.
In May of 2024, Marjan met a lady with eyes full of tears at her door. The lady was crying and asking for her help. Her sister, Fatama (pseudonym), had been arrested by the Taliban regime, but was innocent of any crime. Fatama was mother of two children. The Taliban arrested her, falsely accusing her of selling drugs.
Marjan collected the details of Fatama’s life and circumstances from her sister. For more than six years, Fatama’s husband was addicted to and selling drugs. In that time, Fatama’s life was changed. When she pleaded with her husband to stop using and selling drugs, she was subjected to mental and physical violence and abuse. At 31, two months after her husband died, the Taliban searched her house, and found a small amount of drugs left by her husband. They immediately arrested her, and threw her in prison.
Despite having committed no crime, every day Fatama was subjected to torture and beatings in prison — still paying the price of her husband’s addiction. She did not have any other brother or father to support her. But she had a sister, who did everything she could to try get her released from prison, and she reached out to Marjan for help. Knowing the Taliban’s prison, the task was the most difficult.
But Marjan knew how the system worked. She used her knowledge, experience, and the power of her advocacy. She had the support of the BRIDGE project to feed her family, so she calmly and with wisdom found and tried all ways possible, and she was able to get Fatama freed after two months in prison. Now Fatama is back home, with her small children.
This is really inspiring news to hear that despite Taliban edicts, a woman lawyer was able to provide legal advice and prevent the wasting of life of an innocent lady in prison under the Taliban regime. This is a critical time. Human rights are dead in Afghanistan. Women lawyers need support, so that they can support themselves, their families, and their communities.
“We Afghan women lawyers, my colleagues and I need support. Because the Taliban forbid us to work and we have no other way to earn and support our families. And so it is difficult to support other women.”
— Marjan
Keep Afghan women lawyers supported and engaged. Support the BRIDGE project.