Nadima Rasouli, a university assistant professor, was unable to work in Afghanistan due to the Taliban’s prohibition of women’s employment. However, she has recently been awarded a €90,000 scholarship to study at the doctoral level in the Department of Social and Cultural Studies at Fulda University in Germany.
Rasouli’s research proposal to Fulda University focused on the Taliban’s strict approach to women’s human rights. To secure the scholarship, she also submitted a documentary of her human rights activities and a list of human rights violations against women committed by the Taliban to Fulda University.
Prior to immigrating to Germany nine months ago and prior to the prohibition of women’s work by the Taliban terrorist group, Rasouli was a lecturer at Aria University, a private university in Mazar-i-Sharif. She also served as the head of the human rights and gender department of the Swedish Committee in northern Afghanistan.
She was born in Mazar-i-Sharif in 1993, completed her education at the city’s experimental high school, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in law and political science from Arya Private University and a master’s degree in political science from the University of Pune, India.
After the Taliban terrorist group banned women’s employment, she lost her job as a university assistant professor, as well as all other job opportunities, and was “sentenced to house arrest” due to her gender, she told Nimrokh.
Furthermore, the return of the Taliban to power destroyed her work in institutionalizing human rights values and gender equality in society, which left her with no choice but to seek asylum in Germany.
“I Will be the Voice of Women”
According to the information provided by Fulda University, Rasouli’s Ph.D. research project focuses on the strict approach of the Taliban’s Regime to women’s Human Rights in Afghanistan. Professor Dr. Carola Bauschke-Urban, a sociologist and an expert in gender and diversity studies, is serving as her supervisor for this project.
Rasouli says that she chose this topic to reflect the sufferings of Afghan women, with whom she identifies herself.
By increasing her education level, she says, she hopes to raise awareness and protect the citizenship rights of women and men, in particular, women’s human rights.
Rasouli explains that the scholarship offered by Fulda University is centered around researching violence against women and “the cultural and political movement analysis of the Taliban in relation to women’s human rights”. She sees this opportunity as a chance “to represent the voices of her peers and the women of Afghanistan in a corner of the globe”.
Rasouli says that as a university assistant professor and human rights activist, she is acutely aware of the influence of religious and extremist ideologies. In her own words, she explains, “They tie anti-feminist policies with sanctified tyranny and religious teachings and make the desires and greed for power seem holy in the minds of the people.”
“Afghan women are victimized by rigid religious traditions and extremist Islamic currents, particularly the Taliban,” she believes.
The approaches adopted by the Taliban, she claims, are steeped in “tribal and primitive customs,” and that they have “wrapped and sanctified primitiveness in the guise of religion.” The grip of such a group is detrimental not just to women, but also to men, as it is marked by a lack of liberty and fairness. However, it is undeniable that in such an environment, women bear the brunt of the oppression more acutely.
Achieving Freedom and Justice is the Ultimate Goal
I asked Rasouli for her views on the current situation of Afghan women and how to keep their hopes alive.
“Afghan women’s civil resistance is the greatest social capital of the Afghan people to realize freedom and equality,” she responded.
Rasouli believes that the voice of women can be heard today, thanks to advancements in technology, and that Afghan women, alongside free men, can shape the future of post-Taliban Afghanistan based on democratic discourse.
Rasouli urges women around the world to remember that millions of women in Afghanistan are currently victims of Talibanism’s sanctified violence. She encourages them to be a strong voice for justice on behalf of these women, no matter where they are in the world.
According to her, all the voices raised from academic institutions to the media and the streets of Kabul have one common goal, which is “freedom and justice”.
She emphasizes that no one should underestimate the impact of individual actions, stating that “let’s not think that each of us can’t do something alone, let’s not forget that the sea is the result of raindrops.”
