Arezo Rahimi: Fighting for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of US troops, the lives of women and girls across the country changed almost overnight. Under Taliban rule, women and girls are removed from almost every aspect of daily life, are denied access to education and even face restrictions going out alone, speaking or singing in public.

Not long after the takeover, Arezo Rahimi, a 21 year-old journalist and photographer, arrived in Ireland with her mother, leaving behind the life she once knew in Kabul. She joins Róisín Ingle today to talk about what life was like for women in Afghanistan before the Taliban seized power, how that’s changed and why she ultimately made the journey to Ireland.

We also hear about her involvement with Daricha School, an organisation which runs an underground network of schools for girls who are denied education. The classes take place either online or in secret locations across Afghanistan. Rahimi explains how this movement forms one part of the resistance against the Taliban, but that the international community needs to do so much more.

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