The Women of Afghanistan Need Our Help
Zarmina Kakar a women's rights activist cries during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Aug. 13, 2021. Kakar was a year old when the Taliban entered Kabul the first time in 1996, and recalled a time when her mother took her out to buy her ice cream, back when the Taliban ruled. Her mother was whipped by a Taliban fighter for revealing her face for a couple of minutes. “Today again, I feel that if Taliban come to power, we will return back to the same dark days,” she said. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
August 17, 2021
I wrote just a few days ago about my sense of helplessness around the climate. Today, I’m writing on the heels of that note to ask you to join me in one small action where we can still make a difference.
The girls and women of Afghanistan need our help, immediately.
The window may be very small to save their lives. As the Taliban have regained control of the entire country, girls have been removed from schools, all public depictions of women have been painted over or covered, and women journalists, judges, and other professional women are being hunted and killed. Literally, their only option is for an American plane to take them out of the country with their families.
“As Taliban gain ground, Female Judges Fear for Their Safety.”, PBS
The Taliban’s Return is Catastrophic for Women. The Atlantic
But we can still do something. Seriously.
Thousands of American troops have returned to Afghanistan to keep an airport open and actions are being taken to get people out. We need to add pressure on our government to make sure that women and girls are on those planes. It may be extra hard to find women and get them to safety because many are unable to even leave their homes. Their doors are being patrolled by armed fundamentalist men. So a particular focus must be made on getting women and girls out.
Please call your Senators and Representatives today to ask that a dedicated effort be made to get women and girls out of the country.
How to Call your Senators
How to Call your Reps
It’s easy. Ask them to ensure that American troops make a concerted effort to find women who are in danger and get women and girls of Afghanistan on those planes and out of the country.
We can debate for decades to come what we were doing there in the first place. For now, please make a call.
With love and a heavy heart,
Satya
P.S. I have not forgotten about the earthquake in Haiti and the need for foreign aid. Or the social collapse of Lebanon and the need for foreign attention of all kinds. People are hurting everywhere. This is just one small action where we, Americans, are personally implicated, our country to theirs.
Satya Doyle Byock, Director of The Salome Institute of Jungian Studies