As members of the U.S. Policy Advocates for Afghan Women’s and Girls’ Rights Working Group, we deplore and strongly condemn the latest attacks on women’s rights in Afghanistan. The recent decrees banning women from working in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and attending university constitute gender persecution and show willful disregard for the well-being of the Afghan people and the future of the country writ large.
One in three women experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime.
All the time... everywhere.
We are confronting one of the world's oldest and most widespread human rights abuses: violence against women and girls. Although such violence is a global epidemic, it is especially prevalent in areas of crisis and displacement.
VOICE is a feminist organization working towards a world where girls and women are respected leaders in designing and implementing solutions to eradicate violence -- both in their communities and within the halls of power.
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In August 2021, as the Taliban took over Kabul, the international community evacuated thousands of Afghan women human rights defenders whose lives were at risk. These women and their families were taken to countries such as Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Qatar while their resettlement processes began. More than a year later, many of them are still in transit. Many of their family members are still in Afghanistan; their friends and colleagues are dispersed around the world in search of safety and security; and their lives are seemingly on hold.
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The escalating violence in Ukraine has put millions of women’s and girl’s lives at risk and threatens to displace over a million innocent civilians. There are already more than 2.9 million people in need of assistance in the region, and most refugees fleeing Ukraine are women and children.
Despite the worsening humanitarian and security situation in Afghanistan, Afghan women and girls continue to organize and resist the Taliban. They need our solidarity now more than ever.
We are working to help meet the needs of women- and girl-led organizations in a growing number of countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Colombia, Hungary, Iraq, Moldova, Myanmar, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, the United States, Venezuela, and Yemen. Many of our team members come from the places that we work, meaning that deep local knowledge, expertise and lived experiences underlie our approaches.
Our team includes humanitarian practitioners, researchers, and human rights defenders with over 100 years of experience in feminist movement-building and violence prevention and response.
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WASHINGTON DC Television WUSA9 features VOICE’S art exhibition — Home is Still A Long Way Away: An Art Exhibition by Afghan Women — while on display on the National Mall December 10-12, 2022.
In August 2021, as the Taliban took over Kabul, the international community evacuated thousands of Afghan women human rights defenders whose lives were at risk. These women and their families were taken to countries such as Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Qatar while their resettlement processes began. More than a year later, many of them are still in transit. Many of their family members are still in Afghanistan; their friends and colleagues are dispersed around the world in search of safety and security; and their lives are seemingly on hold.
New Report from VOICE! | November 17, 2022: Since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, millions of women have been displaced within Afghanistan, and many have been forced to flee the country, watching while the Taliban regime progressively restricts women’s most basic human rights. While many WHRDs and their families were evacuated from Afghanistan immediately after the Taliban takeover due to heightened risks of gender-based violence and other forms of abuse, many others had no choice or decided to stay and live under significant threat as they continue their activism.
Food insecurity is a growing issue impacting the lives of refugee women and girls in Hungary, according to a new report produced by VOICE and in collaboration with local partners throughout the country. The report is based on data and stories collected from refugee women and girls at food distribution sites and from the local organizations working tirelessly to serve them.
In 2021, the world passed a solemn threshold, with 1 in 88 people forcibly displaced by conflict or ecological disaster, continuing the upward trend we’ve seen over the last decade.Against this backdrop, VOICE was there to ensure the voices of women and girls were heard, and the leadership of the organizations they lead was respected and better integrated into the humanitarian response.
The global humanitarian community is failing Afghan women and girls, and it will continue to fail them until it starts backing up its empty statements with real action and working directly with Afghan women, girls and women-led organizations to implement solutions to the crisis they face. After Afghan women spent two decades thinking they were part of a partnership with the U.S. and international community, to then be betrayed and left behind, it’s past time for the global community to listen to Afghan women and girls and empower them to drive solutions to this crisis.
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