Female voices from Afghanistan - Humanity House
12 March 2015

Female voices from Afghanistan

Portrait

Sajida

Thirteen years after the fall of the Taliban regime, there have been tangible gains for Afghan women. Almost four million girls are in school, the highest number in Afghanistan’s history, and women, particularly those in urban areas, work as politicians, police officers, pilots, judges and governors. But many Afghan women are still highly vulnerable and there’s still a lot to do to protect them and their rights.

Sajida (35) – I was married to a 50-year-old man when I was 10. My parents had been killed in the civil war and my sister looked after us, but when she got married, I belonged to my brother. He was fighting with the Mujahedeen and had huge gambling debts and sold me to my husband, who was also a fighter. (…) I couldn’t say anything to my brother – he owned me. Until I was around 14 my husband treated me like a daughter but then I became a woman and pregnant. But the Taliban were in power then and I lost the baby and the next one as well, because I couldn’t get to a hospital alone. I have just two children now, which is enough.

When the Taliban fell I was hopeful that life would improve, but it hasn’t. Sometimes I work as a cleaner and earn about 100Afs a day, but it’s not enough. I owe about $300 to neighbors who have leant me money to pay for the rent of this house, which is $30 a month. My husband needs medical care and I have had a headache for days but there’s no money for medicine. I have never seen happiness but I want my children to grow up and become successful people so that they can look after me and we can live in our own home.

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