Masiha Fayez

I was studying law when the Mujahideen took power in Kabul in April 1992. My family fled to Pakistan. More than ten years went by before we could return and I could finish my studies.

In 2004, I started work as a defence lawyer at medica mondiale. Later, I led the legal department there for six years and in 2009 I oversaw the establishment of the independent organisation Medica Afghanistan. 

At the time it was a new development to have women represent women in court. We supported women who had survived sexualised violence or who were being accused of adultery. We represented divorced women fighting for custody of their children. We advised imprisoned women and at the end of their prison sentence we helped them reintegrate safely. That was often difficult. A woman who has been imprisoned or who left her husband is said to bring ‘disgrace’ to her family. “You leave your parents’ house in white. And you return in white.” This Afghan saying refers to brides wearing white on their wedding day and corpses being wrapped in white sheets. 

The message is clear: Your whole life you cannot run away, you have to put up with everything. To change this we campaigned politically for women’s rights.

One of the biggest successes was the introduction of the Elimination of Violence Against Women Law (EVAW). This came into force in 2009. It was the first law to recognise 22 types of violence against women – including rape and family violence – as a statutory offence and legislated for support mechanisms such as women’s safe houses.  

A year before the Taliban seized power, my nightmares began. At the time it was becoming ever more dangerous for activists. The Taliban were threatening them or their relatives.  

One day my husband came home and told me: “Laila has been kidnapped.” The eleven-year-old child of our neighbours was gone for two nights. Then she was dropped off in front of the building where we lived. She told us that men had asked her lots of questions about her parents – but that evidently they had been looking for another girl. Laila was the same age as our daughter. We moved to live with my nephew in Turkey, hoping to return as soon as it was safe to do so.  

I was in Kabul in August 2021, together with my husband and youngest son, having travelled there to finalise a project. We intended to return to Turkey afterwards. 

We were too late. My nightmares became reality. Terrorists roamed Kabul’s streets. The Taliban opened up the prisons, and among the freed prisoners were men imprisoned as a result of my work.  

What kept me going in those days was the solidarity of my international colleagues and friends who sent a constant stream of messages to my mobile phone.  

While we looked for opportunities to leave the country, the situation for its population intensified. Banks were closed. Employees were no longer being paid. Many people did not even have the 10 afghani (about 12 cents) they needed to buy bread for their children.  

I spoke with my nephew in Turkey and he appealed for donations via Facebook. This raised almost 36,000 euros. I threw on my mother-in-law’s large hijab and went out, going into hospitals and up to the casual workers lining streets hoping for work. Many people cried when I gave them money, saying, “We never relied on help from others.” Or: “It’s been two days since my children ate anything.”

The airport had been closed for weeks, but in September the Afghan airline KamAir resumed operations. We managed to buy tickets. After almost two months I was finally able to hug my two eldest children in Istanbul again. In November we all flew to Frankfurt together.  

For 21 years I had worked tirelessly, but now I had to start from scratch. Challenges make you stronger. And with this strength I will continue to work for women’s rights as long as I can. I think this is my responsibility, given the situation in Afghanistan – and other countries, too. For this reason, in 2023 I joined with former colleagues and set up Hami e. V., an organisation to support and empower women and girls in Germany and Afghanistan.  

I hope so much that everyone in Afghanistan will eventually be living a life without war and violence. I dream of seeing Afghan women in leadership positions again – and of our country being ruled one day by a female President.