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So, they had to flee the country at once to stay alive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zainab Pirzad, the editor-in-chief of Rukhshana Media, which covers issues related to women in the domestic and international sector, and journalist at Etilaat-Roz daily newspaper, was among the evacuated female journalists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirdaz talks about her experience when she arrived at the Kabul Airport, during evacuation day. \u201cI just saw too many people and a dirty place. I did not know what happened,\u201d Pirzad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of the chaos and ongoing violence surrounding the airport, Afghans were under the fatal threat of overhead electric wires above the gates. A crowd was expecting to step into the airport to be able to get on an airplane. Some civilians were begging American soldiers to let them into the airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirzad, who witnessed this turmoil, tells a conversation she had with someone who had been travelling for two to three days to reach the airport. \u201cThere was not a toilet.\u201d Some were beaten by the Taliban while some saw elders and children die in front of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirzad witnessed this turmoil. \u201cSomeone said, \u2018I was two or three days on the way \u2014doors of the airport\u2014 to get in, and there was not a toilet,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cOther person said, \u2018Taliban beat me,\u2019 while another person said, \u2018I saw how old people and children died.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirzad was able to leave Afghanistan on Aug. 22 with the help of foreign journalists, despite not having a visa from another country. \u201cI have Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans, so I decided to go near the American Army,\u201d Pirzad said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pirzad was able to migrate to the United States, but she still has growing concerns about the life of her family who she had to leave behind. \u201cMy dreams shattered, I even could not say goodbye to my dad because he was not at home, and I had to leave home soon,\u201d Pirzad said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women journalists are particularly vulnerable. \u201cI left my country here in a really bad situation and untrusted way,\u201d said Mariam Alimi, a freelance photojournalist who worked for many international organizations including the New York Times, Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. She is another exiled women journalist who had to flee her homeland recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was feeling really bad. That\u2019s why I had to leave my country, I had to leave all the things I did in the last 20 years,\u201d Alimi said. \u201cAfter this, I am not able to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alimi was not only dedicated to shooting photographs for newspapers but also to training new photographers in Afghanistan. \u201cI was the one who was travelling around the country in different provinces to teach boys and girls about photography,\u201d she said. \u201cBut unfortunately, I was not able to travel alone around my country here anymore. So, all these things forced me to leave my country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the Taliban forces celebrated their victories shooting in the streets, women journalists found themselves in scary desperation and apprehension about their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI cannot explain my feelings, I am still shocked and can\u2019t believe that I lost all my dreams,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pirzad said. \u201cTaliban don\u2019t allow women journalists to do their job. Of course, they will kill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When some women reporters were trying to make their way out of the country, others were sent home from their news offices by the Taliban with the order to \u201cnever come back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marwa is a female journalist whose real name must be hidden because of her safety. She still lives in Afghanistan and used to work at traditional media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe did not know what the Taliban would do to us or whether we would be able to continue our work or not,\u201d Marwa said. \u201cIt was an uncertain situation, I used to cry day and night with the thought of having to stay home for the rest of my life and not being able to work anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n After a while, Marwa got back to work, but the working conditions were more different than before – potentially fatal. She said, \u201cas long as we are able to continue raising our voice, it does not matter what they say to us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite all concerns, there was still some hope among the journalists as it was reported that the White House was negotiating with the Taliban to secure the sustainability of women\u2019s rights. The Taliban`s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, however, talked otherwise in his very first press conference on Aug. 17. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mujahid said that Afghan women would have their rights, and the Taliban would respect them but \u201cwithin the framework of Islamic law.\u201d Women had to wear the all-enveloping hijab named burqa, and they would go out only when accompanied by a male relative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey talked about how men and women have equal rights, and they would respect all human rights, including the rights of women,\u201d Barr said. \u201cThen the next day they started firing women, journalists from the state media station from the National Radio and Television of Afghanistan (RTA).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marwa talks about an incident where she encountered a Taliban staring at her angrily. \u201cDo not worry. I am going to make you dress modestly and behave like a true Muslim woman soon,\u201d Marwa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some male journalists also have been under the Taliban\u2019s pressure as much as females. On Sept. 7, two male journalists covered the Afghan women\u2019s protest who were seeking girls and their violated rights. The Taliban, however, detained the reporters, put them in separated cells, and beat both men with wires. After two days, they were released having their backs and faces severely injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During her interview on Oct. 11, Marwa told us that no female journalists have been hurt physically as the Taliban are trying to gain international recognition and support. \u201cThey don\u2019t have the guts to hurt any female journalists for the time being,\u201d Marwa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other hand, Interior Ministry spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti said that four women have been murdered in Mazar-i-Sharif, the northern city of Afghanistan on Nov. 6. One of those women that were shot dead was Frozan Safi, 29, a known women\u2019s rights activist and university lecturer. So, the Taliban could not protect women as they promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBut I am more than sure that they will stop us from appearing on TV or working outside along with our male counterparts once they settle down fully,\u201d Marwa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now in Afghanistan, all women have been under the oppression of the Taliban. They banned girls from receiving education under the age of 10. Women have not been permitted to work outside their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Taliban has a really oppressive approach to censoring and intimidating journalists and their work,\u201d Barr said. \u201cThey face all of the same kinds of restrictions and fears that other Afghan women do about their freedom of movement and the risk of being harassed by Taliban members when they\u2019re out and about, where they\u2019re going, what they\u2019re doing and what they\u2019re wearing, and so on and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alimi said that in the past two decades, everyone had been investing in themselves and the country to enhance their education to have an identity. \u201cSo now leaving the country and being somewhere else, means that we really lost our identity, we lost our country, we lost everything that we can face in the last 20 years, just in a second,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pirzad, who still has been actively working for Rukhshana Media, tries to be a voice to Afghan women. \u201cIn Afghanistan not just the journalists\u2019 lives matter, all people are exposed to starvation and danger,\u201d she said. \u201cGirls cannot go to school and university. Women cannot go to offices.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Barr said that Afghans have been negotiating with the Taliban, and some of those negotiations resulted in success. \u201cThe international community also has to be putting pressure on the Taliban over women\u2019s rights in other ways, not ways that are essential to resolve in the humanitarian crisis, but political means things like recognition and so on that the Taliban does seem to want you to know, we saw how to tell them to be quite upset over being denied,\u201d said Barr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Barr said that the United Nations might be considered as a leverage to put pressure on the Taliban for massive violations including rights of women and the rights of media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Convergence reached out to two more women journalists currently residing in Afghanistan. One of them was psychologically overwhelmed by the fear of the Taliban. She said that she could not interview due to security reasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another woman reporter was trying to flee the country because her life was imperiled under the Taliban\u2019s rule. Therefore, the interview with her had to be cancelled. \u201cI had to remove all my social media for a safe trip and reduce the threat,\u201d she texted. \u201cThere is no facility right now, I do not have access to a PC, and rarely and difficulty I find access to the internet connection.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Canada, the United States and countries in Europe warned the Taliban to ensure that Afghan women will not suffer new restrictions. Despite this, the Taliban have kept forcing women to live within the walls of their homes. Knowing this, many Afghan women journalists had to flee the country. Because there was no other way to maintain their professions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Afghan women now hope to go back to the old days when they had been able to work as journalists, anchors, presenters and photographers. They would like to wear what colour or style they prefer. Afghan girls need to resume their education regardless of their ages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As a result, they only demand the human rights that everyone inherently has across the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, the 20-year-long war in the country deepened again. Women who had been improving themselves for years went back to 20 years ago, some of them are journalists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[353],"tags":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy.jpg",2048,1364,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-170x120.jpg",160,113,true],"medium":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-768x512.jpg",696,464,true],"large":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-1024x682.jpg",696,464,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-1536x1023.jpg",1536,1023,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy.jpg",2048,1364,false],"td_150x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-150x100.jpg",150,100,true],"td_218x150":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_300x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"td_324x400":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-324x400.jpg",324,400,true],"td_485x360":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-485x360.jpg",485,360,true],"td_696x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-696x464.jpg",696,464,true],"td_1068x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-1068x711.jpg",1068,711,true],"td_1920x0":["https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-1920x1279.jpg",1920,1279,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"convergencemag","author_link":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/author\/convergencemag\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"With the withdrawal of the U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Aug. 30, the 20-year-long war in the country deepened again. Women who had been improving themselves for years went back to 20 years ago, some of them are journalists.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3838"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4173,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3838\/revisions\/4173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humberjournalism.com\/convergencemag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/COVER-copy-1024x682.jpg\")
Courtesy Mariam Alimi.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/vpms1.humber.smartmanagedservers.com\/convergencemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/IMG_2058-copy-1024x682.jpg\")