After the Taliban imposed severe restrictions on Afghan women's ability to work, learn, and go out in public, some women initially defied these new rules by taking to the streets in protest.
However, those who gathered in Kabul and other major cities to demand "food, work, freedom" soon faced harsh reprisals from the Taliban. Protesters told the BBC that they were beaten, abused, jailed, and even threatened with death by stoning.
We spoke to three women who challenged the Taliban government after it began curtailing women's freedoms following its takeover on August 15, 2021.
Marching through Kabul
When Taliban militants took over Kabul on 15 August 2021, Zakia's life began to unravel. As the primary breadwinner for her family, she quickly lost her job following the Taliban's return to power.
In December 2022, more than a year later, Zakia (a pseudonym) joined a protest, seizing her first opportunity to express her anger at losing the rights to work and education. Protesters were marching towards Kabul University, a site of symbolic importance, but were stopped before reaching their destination.
While loudly shouting slogans, Zakia's short-lived rebellion was abruptly halted by Taliban armed police. "One of them pointed his gun right into my mouth and threatened to kill me right there if I didn't shut up," she recalls. She saw fellow protesters being forced into a vehicle.
"I resisted. They were twisting my arms," she says. "I was being pulled by the Taliban trying to load me into their vehicle and other fellow protesters trying to release me." Ultimately, Zakia managed to escape, but the experience left her terrified for the future. "Violence was no longer taking place behind closed doors," she says, "it was happening on the streets of Kabul in full public view."
Arrested and beaten
Mariam (a pseudonym) and 23-year-old student Parwana Ibrahimkhail Nijrabi were among many Afghan protesters detained after the Taliban takeover. As a widow and sole provider for her children, Mariam feared she would not be able to support her family under the new restrictions on women's ability to work.
She attended a protest in December 2022 and, after seeing fellow protesters arrested, attempted to flee but was captured before she could escape.
"I was forcefully pulled out of the taxi, they searched my bag and found my phone," she recalls.
When she refused to give Taliban officials her pass code, she says one of them punched her so hard she thought her ear drum had burst.
They then went through the videos and photos in her phone.
"They got furious and grabbed me by pulling my hair," she says. "They caught my hands and legs and threw me into the back of their Ranger."
"They were very violent and repeatedly called me a whore," Mariam continues. "They handcuffed me and put a black bag over my head, I could not breathe."
A month later, Parwana too decided to protest against the Taliban, along with a group of fellow students, organising several marches.
But their action was also met with swift reprisal.
"They started torturing me from the moment they arrested me", says Parwana.
She was made to sit between two male armed guards.
"When I refused to sit there, they moved me to the front, put a blanket over my head and pointed the gun and told me not to move."
Parwana started feeling "weak and like a walking dead" among so many heavily armed men.
"My face was numb as they slapped me so many times. I was so scared, my entire body was trembling."
Life in jail
Mariam, Parwana and Zakia were fully aware of the potential consequences of public protest.
Parwana says she never expected the Taliban to "treat her like a human being". But she says she was still stunned by her degrading treatment.
Her first meal in jail left her in shock.
"I felt a sharp thing scratching the roof of my mouth," she says. "When I looked at it, it was a nail - I threw up."
In subsequent meals, she found hair and stones.
Parwana says she was told she would be stoned to death, leaving her crying herself to sleep at night and having dreams about being stoned while wearing a helmet.
The 23-year-old was accused of promoting immorality, prostitution and spreading western culture and was in jail for about a month.
Mariam was kept in a security unit for several days, where she was interrogated with a black bag covering her head.
"I could hear several people, one would kick me and ask who paid me to organise [the] protest," she recalls. "The other would punch me and say 'Who do you work for?'"
Mariam says she told her interrogators she was a widow who needed work to feed her children - but says her answers were met with more violence.
Confession and release
Parwana and Mariam were both released separately following intervention by human rights organizations and local elders, and they no longer live in Afghanistan. Both women say they were forced to sign confessions admitting their guilt and promising not to participate in any future protests against the Taliban. Additionally, their male relatives signed official papers pledging that the women would refrain from further protests.
When we presented these allegations to Zabihullah Mujahid, senior spokesman for the Taliban government, he confirmed that women protesters were arrested but denied any mistreatment. "Some of the women who were arrested were involved in activities that were against the government and against public safety," he said. He disputed the women's accounts and denied the use of torture, stating, "There is no beating in any of the Islamic Emirate's prisons, and their food is also approved by our medical teams."
Lack of basic facilities
Human Rights Watch's interviews with some protesters following their release corroborated the accounts heard by the BBC. "The Taliban use all kinds of torture and even make families pay for these protests. Sometimes they imprison people with their children in terrible conditions," said Ferishtah Abbasi of HRW.
Amnesty International researcher Zaman Soltani, who also spoke to several protesters after their release, highlighted the dire conditions in the prisons. "There is no heating system in winter, prisoners are not given good or sufficient food, and health and safety issues are not taken into consideration at all," Soltani said.
Longing for a normal life
Around the time of their takeover, the Taliban stated that women could work and attend school under the condition that it aligns with Afghan cultural norms and Sharia law. They have maintained that the ban on girls' schooling beyond year six is temporary but have not committed to reopening girls' secondary schools.
Back in Afghanistan, Zakia took a risk and started a home tuition center to educate young girls. However, this endeavor also met with failure. "They feel threatened by a group of young women gathering regularly in one place," she says, her voice tinged with sorrow. "The Taliban achieved what they wanted. I am confined in my own home."
Zakia continues to meet with fellow activists, but they are not planning any protests. They occasionally release statements on social media using pseudonyms. When asked about her hopes for Afghanistan, she breaks down in tears. "I can't do anything. We no longer exist; women have been erased from public life," she says. "All we wanted were our basic rights. Was that too much to ask?"
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