The Story of Dana

 Dana is a courageous women’s rights activist and mother of two young children. Following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 and their escalating restrictions on women, including bans on university education, she joined spontaneous street protests in Kabul to demand the right to education, work, and freedom for Afghan women.

Dana participated in a public demonstration on 22 December 2022 near Kabul University, protesting the Taliban’s decree banning women from higher education. She took photos of the protest to share with media outlets after journalists declined to attend due to safety fears. Taliban forces identified her through these images and targeted her for amplifying the women’s voices internationally.

After leaving the protest and heading home in a taxi, having left her children (aged six and nine) with neighbors, Dana was pursued by Taliban vehicles. They forced her taxi to stop, confiscated her purse and phone, and arrested her on the spot. No female officers were present. She was detained for four days in harsh conditions, with limited information about the facility, facing unhygienic environments and separation from her family.

No formal charges were presented, no lawyer was provided, and no trial took place. Interrogators held her at gunpoint, demanding she unlock her phone (which she eventually did under threat). They accused her of working for foreign entities, particularly Americans, and of being paid to protest. Insults included derogatory terms like “prostitute.” They pressed her to reveal organizers and funders behind the protests, denying any legitimate basis for women’s demands.

Major human rights violations in the process: 

• Arbitrary arrest without warrant or female accompaniment.
• Verbal abuse and gender-based insults, including accusations undermining her morality.
• Coercion to access personal devices and psychological pressure through threats and intimidation.
• Separation from young children, causing family distress.
• Denial of due process and fair hearing.

Dana was released after four days, likely due to advocacy from family, community elders, and international attention on women protesters. Upon release, she faced guarantees and promises extracted under duress, including commitments to cease activism. She later fled Afghanistan into exile, continuing to face trauma from the ordeal.

Dana’s brief but terrifying detention illustrates the Taliban’s systematic efforts to suppress peaceful women’s protests through fear, intimidation, and arbitrary punishment, denying Afghan women their fundamental rights to education and public participation.