After the fall of Afghanistan by the Taliban group, we formed the Purple Saturdays Women's Movement, a protest rally in response to the ban on girls’ education by the Taliban in Afghanistan. This was done on the International Day of Education. The Purple Saturday's Women Movement organised street protests against the Taliban group. We formed Purple Saturdays because women have always played a vital role in Afghan society, being the backbone of the family and the community. They have been involved in various fields, such as education, healthcare, and business. However, the Taliban's rule has always been oppressive towards women, and their recent actions have been even more extreme.
The Taliban have been systematically eliminating women from public life, including from education and employment. They have closed down girls' schools, universities, and vocational training centres, leaving millions of girls and women without access to education. Women have also been forced to quit their jobs and stay at home, as the Taliban do not allow them to work outside the home.
The women of the Purple Saturday movement
Moreover, the Taliban have imposed strict dress codes on women, requiring them to wear burqas and prohibiting them from wearing makeup or nail polish. Women are also not allowed to leave their homes without a male companion or a male family member. These actions are not only a violation of human rights but also a threat to the foundations of Afghan society. Women are the bearers of culture and traditions, and their exclusion from public life can have a devastating effect on the social fabric of the country. Without women's participation, Afghanistan cannot achieve sustainable development and progress.
The Afghanistan Women’s and Children Strengthen Welfare Organization ( AWCSWO ), as its name suggests, has been providing effective and continuous services to women and children suffering from violence and deprived of their rights and freedoms from the beginning of the Taliban establishment until now. The activity of our AWCSWO in Afghanistan includes -
Continuous effort with strategic goals to develop social and political activities and improve the educational and economic level of women and girls;
Informing the community and notifying the international community of violations;
Improving capacities and creating leadership skills for women
Development of women’s participation in effective decision-making.
Efforts to restore children’s rights, and fight against child abuse and underage marriages.
Reducing the pain of victims caused by violence, and providing the necessary facilities for the health and well-being of mothers and children.
Counselling in the field of mental health of victims of violence.
Our goal is to provide rights and equality free from discrimination in all areas of life, gender, family, social, cultural, economic and political. We know that Afghan women and children have always been affected by war and violence, and little attention has been paid to this vulnerable segment of society.
Therefore, we Afghan women, with a strong feeling and with a firm determination in the war against darkness and inequality towards the boundless horizon of freedom and light with full faith, join hands with everyone, organise and strengthen this movement of all.
We, Afghan women, have always been a model of resistance and an example of courage. Enduring all this violence and humiliation is not in the dignity of Afghan women. We have chosen the cruelty and enmity committed as an example of our struggles. We have specific options in our hands to achieve our lofty goals, which are the realization of our inherent rights and cannot be denied or discriminated against.