A Generation of Women Held Back

August 15, 2023

Two years after the fall of Kabul ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

August 15, 2023

Dear Meteor readers,

Two years ago this week, the United States and Great Britain withdrew troops and diplomatic resources from Afghanistan as the Taliban claimed rule in that country.

Since that fateful day in 2021, over 1 million people have fled Afghanistan and some have found themselves displaced, detained, and separated from their families. Many, like Zaki Anwari, died attempting to escape; the devastating images of people hanging from planes while they were taking off remain seared into our minds. Then there are those who stayed or were left behind and have seen their nation impoverished and their rights curtailed.

In today’s newsletter, we look at what the last two years have been like for Afghan women and girls—along with that big Trump indictment, some good news in Massachusetts, and more trouble in Texas.

With love,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON…IN AFGHANISTAN

FAMILIES LINE UP TO BE TAKEN OUT OF KABUL THE DAY AFTER THE TALIBAN RETURNED TO POWER. (IMAGE BY MASTER SGT. DONALD R. ALLEN VIA GETTY IMAGES)

Not a “comfortable and prosperous” life: In June of this year, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada shared a message which claimed that “The status of women as a free and dignified human being has been restored and all institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights.”

But the difference between reality and propaganda is stark.

Beginning in early 2022, girls were banned from attending school beyond the 6th grade. As the year rolled on, women were banned from universities, government jobs, non-government jobs, and eventually all public spaces. Women who want to leave their homes are required to wear burqas and must be accompanied by a male relative. If a man isn’t available, as can easily be the case for widows and divorcees, a woman must remain out of sight.

The implications of this oppression are far-reaching. Not only are entire generations of women being denied rights, resources, and access to education, but the national economy is suffering as the countries Afghanistan previously relied on for aid have largely withdrawn their money because of the Taliban’s human rights violations. That loss of aid coupled with several years of drought-like conditions has triggered a near-famine in most of the country. Unable to work outside of the home, women are left to starve or resort to extreme measures to survive. Those who attempt to fight back, like the women who protested the banning of beauty salons last month, are met with more violence.

And yet the women of Afghanistan continue to fight. A new report from Sky News reveals that some have created “underground” businesses to help themselves and others earn an income. One business owner who started a secret craft shop used the funds from her business to open an underground school for girls; it now services 200 students. “I don’t want Afghan girls to forget their knowledge and then, in a few years, we will have another illiterate generation,” she told Sky News.

But without proper government infrastructure or international aid, even the most resilient Afghan woman is up against insurmountable odds. So are some of those who managed to escape the country: In the UK, Afghan refugees are now facing homelessness after a program which paid for their hotel stays ended; those who settled in America dealt with a similar housing crisis last year.

The road to the “comfortable and prosperous life” that Akhundzada claimed Afghan women already possessed is as of yet uncharted. It certainly cannot be obtained with the Taliban in power, but with no other group remaining to challenge them the Afghan people have been left with few choices.

This morning in Kabul, Taliban soldiers celebrated their triumph with a parade.

Click here to donate to relief programs in Afghanistan.

For more on Afghanistan feel free to revisit our interview with two Afghan journalists, and our talk with Afghanistan Women’s National team captain, Farkhunda Muhtaj.

AND:

Donald Trump and 18 of his BFFs have been indicted in the state of Georgia for their roles in trying to overturn the 2020 election. Among the gang is Rudy Giuliani, who famously used RICO anti-racketeering laws to go after the mob during his tenure as a Manhattan US Attorney. (Guess what he’s being charged with?) But that little detail isn’t the only thing that makes this indictment unique: Filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, it’s also sweeping in its breadth, and a more expansive “view of the former president’s scheme” than Trump’s previous indictments, writes The Atlantic. Under Willis’ indictment, Trump and his cohorts are being defined as a “criminal organization.” Setting a Google alert now for that trial date.
A study has found that if women were paid for the child and family care they perform on a daily basis, they would earn an extra $4600 a year. I’m no finance expert but I already want to request at least two extra zeroes be tacked onto this number. Let’s call it an I-changed-a-hazardous-diaper-in-the-middle-of-the-night bonus.
The death toll from the Maui fires continues to rise. Find out how to help those in need here.
A new tax on millionaires in Massachusetts has generated about $1 billion in revenue for the state, part of which will go towards funding meals for public school students. Now do the rest of America.
Veterans looking to undergo IVF treatments can currently have a portion of it covered under their VA insurance—unless they’re single or LGBTQIA. Now a federal lawsuit seeks to make IVF coverage available to all veterans.
Time’s Charlotte Alter published a gutwrenching story of a young Mississippi girl who was forced to deliver her rapist’s child because she wasn’t able to travel to a state where abortion was legal. She’s only in seventh grade.

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