Witness 18 Audio Testimony

My name is Alizai, and I swear that everything I say is the truth, and there are no lies. The harm I experienced regarding women’s education began when the Taliban arrived in 2021. I was supposed to graduate from university in February 2022.

When the Taliban first came, there was an initial atmosphere of chaos—rumors that the situation was bad, that universities would close, and there would be no education at all. Our mindset was prepared for everything to fall into disarray. Soon after, they imposed restrictions on universities, stating that students must bring male guardians (mahrams) to the university to sit with them. When the university administrators refused this, saying they did not have enough space for so many mahrams to accompany the female students, they then demanded segregation. When segregation was implemented, our classes were separated.

The next step was to close universities to women entirely. Our university administration decided to combine our current semester’s exams with the next one. They took two semesters’ worth of exams during our 20-day, 20-percent exams. They crammed two semesters into one to prevent the university from being shut down, but this resulted in our documents being delayed until further notice. This meant the teaching and practical work we were supposed to do were eliminated. The hope, plan, and decision we had made for our future development were destroyed. They gave us no opportunity.

When we went for an exam, we were investigated. We would be talking or walking outside, and a Taliban member would be inside because a few of their people had to be present at the university. We were labeled with names like “Woman is for the home or the grave” and “You are Westerners; you hold such a notion“.

Another point is that I myself have a disability and am a victim of Polio. I have a leg disability, so I cannot walk normally. I was often humiliated with questions like, “Who told you to get an education?“. Or, “Why are you here, exhausting yourself for the university? You are a lame girl; you should stay home“. I faced such issues.

I did not take their words to heart because they were uneducated people who had come from the mountains, but we did not expect them to treat us this way.

When we graduated, they did not allow us to hold a graduation ceremony. We were harmed by that as well.

Following that year, when universities were still closed, I went to Nangarhar University to register for my Master’s degree, as Master’s programs there weren’t specifically banned. I took the form, but I wasn’t allowed to fill it out. They didn’t even let me reach the department door. When I left, they told me, “Who gave women so much right? That seven or eight years of education is enough for you, it is sufficient, you have already learned too much!“. They used such vulgar language—words that are not typically used even by an uneducated person in public discourse. I was personally ashamed near the department and left that very day.

After that, I fell into severe depression. I was not financially stable enough to apply for university abroad or travel outside. My education was stalled. My sisters and sisters-in-law at home were also affected. One was in the eighth and ninth grades when schools were closed to them. They were not allowed into school, and those years are lost. They had a hope and expectation to graduate from school—some to study medicine, others another field. But until now, their only hope is that I go abroad, that I take them with me, and that they can complete their education there.

Since February 2022, I, a civil and women’s rights activist , was working in this sector. I received threats, for instance, about which programs I participated in. Regarding some of the programs I had running for quick literacy education , I was threatened to the extent that if I took even one step toward women’s education, they would severely harm me and my family. That is why my education and my sisters’ education were ruined. They had no other hope or expectation to continue their education.

One of my younger sisters wanted to study midwifery. She even said she would enroll with fake documents just to fulfill her dream of attending university. But even that was banned because she had that hope. For now, I am taking an online English course because there is no permission to attend physical classes. They don’t give me time, they don’t give me permission. When I go, they tell me, “Don’t come here; you cannot enroll in the course“. This is one of the damages I see because learning via the internet is very difficult.

Approximately four to four and a half years of my career were ruined. The plan I had made for my future and my career was destroyed. It was ruined because I was in my Master’s year, a time when I should have started my PhD or completed my six-month law course. Everything was ruined. I suffered from depression for about two years because my plan was ruined. My psychological state was completely disrupted, and I went into depression. I endured many hardships. I suffered because of the things these people said to me—how many bad words they used, saying, “You are girls, you did this and that, you are Westerners, your ideology is like that“. They said, “You came here. It’s good that these universities were closed to you. It’s good that schools were closed to you. You asked for this, didn’t you? That’s why universities and schools were closed to you“.

They even said things like, “You deserved this; this should happen to you“. These are all things we have experienced ourselves.

My message is that there is no possibility of compensation for the past years we have lost. I do not think these years will be compensated. However, if steps are taken for the future generation, and something positive is brought about, it would be better for them to be given time to get an education.

Education is not just so women can get an education, go to university, and get a job. Many families don’t need women to study and work. But there are also families who have no other provider besides the woman. If they are marginalizing this segment, which makes up half of society, and giving it a false name of Islam, claiming it is an Islamic command and that it is a command against vice , this marginalization of half of society has come neither in religion nor in Islam nor in the Quran. The Quran states that education is mandatory for both men and women. If we look at work, our holy women did work. Lady Khadija (RA) even engaged in trade. If this was not permissible, why did they do it?. If it was not permissible, why did Allah say loudly in the Holy Quran that education is mandatory for both men and women?.

They should only look at this: the next generation is being destroyed. The future children are being born into darkness. Look at the children whose parents are educated and literate—they are ahead in schools, in first or second place. This is because they have encouragement at home. This encouragement doesn’t only come from the father, who leaves to work and earn money in the morning. It is the mother who is at home with them, helping them with their lessons, homework, and everything. If this wasn’t available, look at the students who fall behind in school. They fall far behind. Whether boys or girls, if they fall behind, they reach the eighth or ninth grade and either leave school, run away from school, or lose interest and go to work. Their future is ruined. They fail their early classes, they get discouraged, and when they reach the higher grades, they cannot move forward out of shame of their peers.

Half of an entire Afghanistan depends on this. Destroying this is a great injustice against the Afghans and Afghan women. We have seen many government changes, but nowhere have the only victims been women. We have seen Islamic societies, the Islamic world, and Islamic countries, even in war zones and front lines, but the victims beyond the front lines are never only women. But here, in this place, the only victims are women. Please, they should not violate the rights of this Muslim, helpless population. They should give them their rights so that they too can have some hope for their future. They should at least not be guilty to their own conscience and soul. Their rights should not be violated by anyone.