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Rukhshana Media

In anticipation of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, we began working with the woman-led Afghan newsroom Rukhshana Media several months before the Taliban’s rapid return to power to document what the end of the war would mean for the women living through it. Named in honor of a 19-year-old woman stoned to death in 2015 in Ghor Province, Rukhshana Media focuses on stories by and about Afghan women, and has persisted in essential coverage despite the serious danger now posed to women journalists by Taliban rule.

At a time when Afghan women have lost not only their rights to work and education but also their social identities, the world needs to hear their voices. The partnership between Rukhshana Media and The Fuller Project provides an opportunity for Afghan women to tell their own stories in their own words. It enables them to tell how the return of the Taliban to power is influencing and shaping their everyday lives and how they feel about it. Our partnership with The Fuller Project is an excellent example of how international media can amplify the voices of Afghan women.” – Zahra Joya, Founder, Rukhshana Media 

Two women walking on a street

The Taliban are harming Afghan women’s health

Afghanistan’s new government is imposing discriminatory restrictions on the health care system.

A photo of a Taliban soldier pointing a weapon at a driver at a checkpoint

‘Since the Taliban took over, I have lost almost everything’

An Afghan woman is attacked by a Taliban soldier during a protest. Then one shows up at her door the next day. Now she must flee.

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A photo of students raising their hands in a classroom

‘My Classmates Have No Hope’

“We were the ones hoping to shape the future, but they took that future away from us,” a teen girl writes, describing the “terror” of attending a high school in northern Afghanistan under Taliban control.

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A photo of a group of women looking at cell phones

‘We Must Stay Strong’

A young Afghan woman seeks solidarity and hope for women and girls despite Taliban oppression.

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‘Can You Imagine How Difficult It Is to Feel Exiled in Your Own City?’

A female journalist in Kabul adjusts to life under the Taliban’s shadow.

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A photo of university students in a classroom

‘I Want to Continue My Education’

A 19-year-old dressmaker in Kabul fears her dreams of continuing her education will make her a target for the Taliban.

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A photo of a car with a ribbon and flowers on the windshield

‘Being Imprisoned at Home is What Awaits Me’

An Afghan agricultural engineer fought for her education and her career. "Now, getting forced to marry a Talib, becoming a second wife, and being imprisoned at home is what awaits me," she writes.

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Photo of a group of women staging a protest as men stand in a doorway

‘I Went Out and Shouted for Freedom’

An Afghan college student had only heard stories about what life was like under the Taliban. Then months before graduation, "everything fell apart."

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A photo of a Taliban fighter aiming his gun at the photographer

Life of Fear Replaces Life of Dreams After Taliban Takeover

Once the breadwinner for eight people, an Afghan woman says she now feels "in prison" since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

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Photo of a packed crowd behind a temporary fence with liter on the ground

Struggling to survive: Story of a challenging journey

"During the days that I lived under the dark shadow of the Taliban, I felt like a bird in a cage. Like a bird with wings, but no permission to fly," Afghan journalist Zahra Joya says, describing life under the Taliban.

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A photo of an Afghan woman holding a child as she sits with other children on a pile of trash and debris

‘The Humiliation I Experienced Just to Escape the Taliban’

Get trampled or crawl through sewage? An Afghan woman describes the "humiliating" conditions fleeing Afghans faced while trying to escape Afghanistan after the Taliban took over.

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A photo of a traffic jam in Kabul

‘The Day the Taliban Reached Kabul, it Turned into a Ghost City’

Afghan journalist Maryam Nabavi describes feelings of hope and despair after Kabul fell to the Taliban.

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Two children walking on a street in Afghanistan

The Taliban’s Return Was the Death of Dreams

After two weeks of living under Taliban control, a youth activist decides it’s time to for her to leave Afghanistan. “This is not what our people deserve,” says Hosnia Mohseni, 30.

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‘The Taliban Came and Killed My Spirit!’

A school teacher in central Afghanistan laments the loss of educational opportunities for girls and women since the Taliban took control.

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A photo of a man carrying a rifle walking past a defaced image of a woman

What Afghanistan’s women stand to lose

For the past 20 years, Afghan women were told to chase their dreams. But within days of the Taliban takeover, Afghan women are mourning their working lives and freedom.

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A photo of two school girls wearing headscarves writing in notebooks at a table

As the Taliban Resurges in Afghanistan, Girls Are Already Losing Schools

Girls’ education—once a signature achievement of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan—is increasingly under threat as the Taliban tightens its grip.

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