International Women’s Day #IWD is to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, & political achievements of women around the world.
But today, my heart aches for the women of my homeland who've had their achievements of the last two decades taken away from them overnight.
🧵1/7
20 years ago, one of the reasons the US invaded Afghanistan was to ‘liberate’ its women from the oppression & tyranny of the Taliban.
They were sold a dream of freedom & liberty to choose their own destiny & they worked excruciatingly hard to make that dream a reality. 2/7
From politics to sports, technology, arts, business, education, community, the progress of the women of Afghanistan has been nothing short of phenomenal.
But they were betrayed.
20 years later, they were sold back to their oppressors & left utterly alone with a broken dream. 3/7
Nearly 7 months since the fall of #Kabul, the Taliban are systemically erasing women from the face of society in Afg.
At best they're banning education, work or leaving the house without a man; at worst they're kidnapping, torturing, murdering anyone who dares to speak up. 4/7
Yet the courage & bravery of the #women of Afghanistan knows no bounds.
They are warriors.
With nothing left to lose & no ‘liberators’ or women’s rights defenders coming to rescue, they continue to protest & reject the fate they have been sealed to. 5/7
Today, and every other day, we cannot talk about #genderequality and #womensrights in the world, without reckoning with what we have allowed to happen to the #womenofAfghanistan 6/7
This has happened on our watch.
We need to hold our leaders accountable.
We cannot turn a blind eye to the suffering of the women & people of Afghanistan.
We must act & demand action! 7/7
#IWD2022 #ActionforAfghanistan @ActionForAfg
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