Afghan Women - US Department of State

Afghan Women

Afghan Women’s Struggles, Triumphs Highlighted in Documentaries

Although Sahar Adish and Malalai Joya never have met, these young Afghan women both have dramatic personal histories -- and they share another distinction: each is the subject of an award-winning documentary film that examines the plight of people who live in a repressive society.

Enemies of Happiness won the Silver Wolf Award at the 2006 International Documentary Festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the World Cinema Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Sahar: Before the Sun has been shown at the Chicago Film Festival and at New York’s Woodstock Film Festival in 2006, and the Youth Film Festival in Israel. (complete text)

United States Condemns Slaying of Afghan Women's Rights Advocate

The assassination of Afghan activist Safia Ama Jan “shows the nature of this enemy we face,” President Bush says. “They have no conscience. Their objective is to create fear and create enough violence so we withdraw and let them have their way. And that’s unacceptable.” The provincial director of Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs was gunned down in front of her home in Kandahar September 25. (complete text)

Afghan Women Judges Pursue Legal Training in United States

Trust in the Afghan legal system is weak, according to a female Afghan judge speaking at a June 22 State Department roundtable discussion on women in Afghanistan’s justice system. “People who have been in place in the legal system in Afghanistan need to get trained so they can at least learn about the legal system,” the judge said. “Otherwise there can be no trust.” (complete text)