'Don't forget us': Teenage #refugee reminds Gen Z of silenced #Afghan girls
Flora Drury, November 23, 2024
"Nila's is, perhaps, not an easy task. The plight of Afghanistan's women and girls can feel a world away to young people living in Canada, where Nila found a home after fleeing her home country as the Taliban took over three years ago.
"In that time, the Taliban have banned teenage girls from education, banned women from travelling long distances without a male chaperone, and now ordered them to keep their voices down in public - effectively silencing half the population.
"The Taliban have defended the rulings to the BBC previously by saying they align with religious texts.
"'The differences [between Afghanistan and Canada] are vast, so it makes it hard for them to feel connected,' acknowledges Nila.
"That is why she helped set up HerStory - a place where she and others help share the stories of Afghan women and girls in their own words, both inside and out of the country.
"'So many times we are lost in the differences that we don't see the similarities and that's our goal, to show that to the world.'"
"Nila Ibrahim was chosen from 165 nominees as the 20th winner of the prestigious prize.
"The award recognises not just the work done on HerStory, but also her passion for standing up for women's rights in Afghanistan.
"Nila's first stand for women's rights came in March 2021, when she joined other young Afghan girls in sharing a video of her singing online.
"It was a small but powerful protest against a decree by the then-director of education in the Afghan capital, Kabul, who tried to ban girls over 12 singing in public. The attempted order was never implemented."
Read more:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgz55wn0g6o
