28. Sahar Fetrat - On the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan

My guest today is Sahar Fetrat, a young Afghan living and studying in London. Born in Afghanistan but forced to flee when she was only one year old, Sahar returned with her family to Kabul when she was 10 and stayed there until graduating from university. She then moved to Budapest to pursue her first Masters at the Central European University before moving onto her second Masters in War Studies at King’s College London, where she is currently a student.

Sahar introduces herself as a ‘feminist who’s navigating her way between activism and academia’—a journey that has seen her produce short films as well as becoming a prominent social commentator. During her relatively short, but impactful career, Sahar has directed two short films, one called ‘- this is Kabul’ and the other ‘Do not trust my silence’, with the latter winning a best film prize at an Italian short-film festival. Both films seek to challenge the position Afghan women and girls hold in that society. More recently, Sahar has published articles that seek to highlight the struggle of women and girls in her homeland, an issue particularly relevant now that the Taliban has returned to power.

Some of the topics we covered are:

• Life of a child refugee
• Kabul during the ‘peaceful’ years
• Answering the call of activism
• Failure of ‘black and white’ narratives
• Defining feminism
• Role models that influenced Sahar
• The story of ‘Do not trust my silence’
• Lived experience of women and girls in Afghanistan
• Camera as a weapon against inequality and abuse
• Taliban attack on Sahar’s university
• Losing her mother and father
• Scars of war and importance of legitimising emotions
• The current situation in Afghanistan
• The power of individual action

Sahar mentioned a program, ‘Sahar Speaks’, that introduced her to the power of the camera. That same program has recently helped resettle two dozen alumnae in host nations around the globe. You can find out more about their struggles and help nurture their journalism careers at the following link:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/resettle-afghan-women-sahar-speaks-reporters