In this post and introduce my newest video which cover how regime changes, visionary leaders, and wars have affected the lives of Afghan women and how power-sharing with the Taliban could undo the gains in the past twenty years. People often ask me why Afghan women have ALWAYS been oppressed. It was this recurring question that inspired me to make this video to show the progress, gains, and setbacks in the past 100 years and how they have shaped the current climate for Afghan women.

We start with the reign of King Amanullah and Queen Soraya who attempted to modernize Afghanistan and gave unprecedented rights to women. Then we go on to cover the ‘Era of Peace’ 1933-1973 when Zahir Shah was the last king of Afghanistan and progress was slow and steady. During the Russian occupation, many rights were given to Afghan women but it was ineffectual in the rural areas where Afghans were being slaughtered by Russian airstrikes and women were losing their homes. The video ends with the current peace talks with the Taliban and how power-sharing could affect the lives of Afghan women.