2025-09-06
59 分钟When the Taliban seized control of Kabul in 1996, after years of chaotic warlord regimes,
it seemed unfathomable that this group would really impose the hardline version of Islam it subscribed to.
But the crackdown was immediate.
Rule was brutal and bloody in every respect, but particularly so for women and girls.
They could no longer go to school, university or work.
They couldn't leave the house unless accompanied by a male relative.
Even then, they had to cover every inch of skin.
For Afghan women, daily life became a prison.
Some were beaten, stoned, raped, or worse.
I remember so well reading the headlines, watching the news,
and I never thought I would see it again.
Yet, when the Americans abandoned Afghanistan four years ago in 2021,
the Taliban charged back into power.
They said they were different this time.
But this week, as children in much of Europe and America have gone back to school,
that's a privilege most Afghan girls can only dream of.
We've watched as their worlds have slowly closed in once again.
And yes,
we've paid attention in recent days as more than 1,400 people died in a massive earthquake and the aftershocks that followed.
But if we're being honest,