For many young women, born after the Allied forces propped up the local government ( post 2004) the only Afghanistan they knew was the cosmopolitan, democratic model modelled by the alliance of the peacekeepers and the progressives in government.

The Taliban ‘rule’ was a historic and painful memory that their parents talked about, and now without warning it has become theirs. Girls cannot go to school, women cannot work and many freedoms that they took for granted have been severely restricted.

There is a mass exodus of refugees and yet in my work with various refugee organisations, the majority of the aid work is for men. I find myself asking ‘where are the girls? where are the women? What is really going on?

This is the darkest chapter in the humanitarian crisis against the rights of vulnerable women .
I attended a session last week at Chatham House, where Nancy Pelosi hardly mentioned the traumatising US withdrawal from Afghanistan.  I really wanted to shout – did anyone consider the women and what horrors would unfold for them? What did you unleash Mrs Pelosi et al ? Sadly my voice remained unheard, just as my Afghan sisters voices are.

Over 800,000 US military members served in Afghanistan during America’s longest war. Over 2,000 were killed and more than 20,000 were injured. The United States spent $822bn (£598bn) fighting the war and training Afghan forces, only to witness the Taliban’s rapid conquest of the country’ ( BBC news 17 Aug 21)  and with it , the blatant erosion of human rights .

I wanted to share this video with you. it will make you think. It may make you angry . It may make you act. I really hope so. Join organisations like Amnesty and make your voices heard.  Everyone should be able to breathe.