Our response to the education ban imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan
Trigger warning: Human rights violation, injustice
Only 6 months ago, we wrote a reflection blog post on the overturning of Roe V. Wade in the US. We are saddened to have to publish our comments on yet another major attack on women’s rights within the same year.
Education is an essential tool for women and girls to be able to break cycles of abuse, end generational poverty and live free and happy lives.
Without access to education, millions of Afghan women and girls will continue to live in extreme poverty and be subjected to unthinkable forms of abuse. This decision makes women and girls vulnerable to more of their essential rights being violated. We demand action for the women and girls of Afghanistan to regain access to their fundamental rights: education and public safety. We demand that every leader and person in power act & speak up now. Any member of the public around the world who is looking for an action space should support organisations working to create gender equality, support displaced Afghan people everywhere, and join the gender-equality campaign now.
Some of our team members risked their lives on a daily basis to go to school. Some were unable to access education as punishment for their gender or due to being displaced as a result of war. Many childhood friends of these team members are now in forced marriages, have been killed, killed themselves or are modern slaves because they were denied their right education simply because of their gender. As a survivor and migrant-led organisation, we want to share our platform with women and girls whose voices need to be heard right now. We know what it is like not to be heard, to shout for your rights at the top of your lungs with no platform. It is our duty to provide that platform for them. An entire nation of women and girls will not be educated unless we all act now.
Shortly after the global news release, activist Angelina Jolie received a letter from a young Afghan friend of hers, asking for Angelina to amplify her voice. The letter reads:
To echo our words from June 2022, moments like these remind us of why we are doing what we are doing. They remind us exactly why we need everyone’s attention and involvement. As another year of campaigning comes to an end, we want to reassure women and girls across the world that The Vavengers will continue to work tirelessly through campaigning, educating and providing direct support to survivors and those at risk, until we end all forms of Gender-Based Violence and live in an equal world.
With love,
The Vavengers Team
“When women rise, we all rise.”
Co-authored by Ellie Melvin and Sema Gornall