After the Taliban blocked women from pursuing journalism as a study major and later banned them from university altogether, Rukhshana Media received many messages from women interested in being journalists but who were at a loss as to how to make it happen.
For those already working as journalists, it soon became clear the Taliban would like to be rid of them too. As the new rulers began wielding power across Afghanistan, more and more women were forced to leave the profession. Some simply lost their jobs. Others couldn’t maintain the work in the face of threats and intimidation they received.
The women who continue to work in the profession are operating under strict conditions. There is no longer a truly free and independent media outlet in Afghanistan. The industry has been severely restricted since Afghanistan’s government collapsed in August 2021.
The Taliban only permits topics and perspectives that agree with its ideology. Reporting any story that conflicts with Taliban beliefs or practices – whether it be political criticism, corruption among Taliban members, or human rights violations – is increasingly perilous for those covering these topics.
The Taliban has regularly used intimidation, arbitrary arrest, physical abuse and torture, and the closure of most independent media outlets to suppress information being shared. Reporting on women’s issues in particular entails significant risk.
Simply living as an Afghan woman in a country that limits your employment and travel unless you’re accompanied by a male chaperone is complicated enough. But for the female reporters who must navigate frequent Taliban checkpoints and authorities to cover news stories or interview people who do not want to be revealed to the de facto authorities, the challenge is even more profound.
Taliban forces are honed to closely monitor women’s movements. And they make sure ordinary Afghans also avoid supporting them. For example, they punish taxi drivers who transport women passengers without a male chaperone.
Yet, despite these formidable obstacles, Afghan women are still taking these risks and working to tell stories of their people. I have witnessed the courage and bravery of these journalists first hand.
At Rukhshana Media, our mission revolves around amplifying women’s voices and shedding light on their stories. In an era where the media is being severely repressed and misinformation circulates swiftly on social media, the role of female journalists in providing accurate information is paramount.
Unfortunately, reports of Taliban violence against women are alarmingly common, with no avenues for redress or justice.
We know that during its first rule in the 1990s, the Taliban imposed a similarly oppressive situation on Afghan women, which was perhaps made worse by the fact there was almost no information being shared among women or by women inside the country.
Today, however, stories of the Taliban’s large-scale structural violence being inflicted against women is more available, thanks to the internet and widespread access to communication devices.
But the Taliban would like a situation like the 1990s where information is scarce and its abuses are kept in the dark. Its hostility towards media outlets that dare to question it, and social media campaigns that call it out is apparent.
On the other hand, the Taliban knows it cannot shut down media completely like it could before the internet, so it employs another tactic – saturating the media with its own stories and narratives that support its views.
But much to its chagrin, despite its relentless attempts to appear benign or at worst just misunderstood, the Taliban’s abuse of women’s rights remains a key weakness for the group in gaining acceptance both at home and abroad.
Pressure on the Taliban to change will remain only so long as the media continues to tell these stories. The work of reporters who take risks to reveal what’s happening in Afghanistan is critical now as much as ever.
Rukhshana Media is proud to be part of an effort to keep the Taliban accountable and to not cower in the face of its violence, intimidation, and threats. Strong support is needed to ensure these stories continue to be told.
Our coverage of the Taliban’s violence may appear habitual with Rukhshana Media frequently documenting the stories of women being forced into unemployment, facing discrimination, undergoing flagrant abuse in detention centers, with incidents of harassment, assault, and torture so commonplace.
But we only document a very small fraction of the personal accounts we come across. The Taliban have very effectively instilled a climate of fear among the population and many media workers. Gaining the trust and access for the women to share these stories is a delicate process. And female journalists have a far greater chance of gaining it.
The Taliban understands this. Female journalists are being routinely targeted and intimidated.
We remain steadfast in striving to tell these stories to the best of our abilities. But the outlook for female journalists within Afghanistan and the future of their work looks extremely bleak.
With fewer and fewer women able to receive an education or be employed as journalists, it’s possible that women journalists in Afghanistan become extinct.
Saying it is easy, but the reality is extremely distressing.
The disappearance of this cohort of journalists and their unique access and work would be a tragedy whose depth can only be understood by those whose lives are dictated by the Taliban.
We don’t know when or how the situation will change and the Taliban’s oppression will be lifted. But we do believe that without our struggle and resistance, what the Taliban is doing to girls and women in Afghanistan will not remain confined to Afghans or to Afghan borders. And so we continue, not just for our Afghan sisters, but for all women everywhere.
As a small but strong group of journalists, we will continue our fight to amplify the voices of Afghan girls and women.
We are forced to conceal our identities to the best of our abilities, knowing that the Taliban will stop at nothing to silence our work. It is not an ideal practice for journalists to do this, but it is currently the only possible way to operate.
Just as the Taliban are bent on erasing women from the public sphere, we are bent on preserving their presence and their voices. In this regard, ensuring female journalists continue to work in Afghanistan is a strategic necessity.
