A return to Insecurity after forced deportation
Pakistani police raided our house in Islamabad at 11 a.m. on February 7. It was the second time they had come for us. The first time was three days earlier when plainclothes officers arrived at…
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There’s a War on Women in Afghanistan.
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- Links to our latest stories from the frontlines
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Reports
Children killed and families displaced in Pakistan–Taliban conflict
Children were playing outside in the village of Hijratabad when the rockets came. It was just before noon on March 2. Some families had only returned that morning to their…
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Afghan women: The largest imprisoned population in the world
This year marks the fourth International Women’s Day in which the Taliban have imprisoned Afghan women and girls inside their…
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March 8, 2026: Afghan women’s agency and the test of international law
International Women’s Day is often framed as celebration. In reality, March 8 is a reminder that rights are never permanently secured. They are defended across generations, and they can be…
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Interviews
Standing against the darkness: Jhulia Parsi’s account of two and a half years of street protest
Julia Parsi was among the first women activists who took to the streets after the fall of Kabul to protest the Taliban’s anti-women policies. For two-and-a-half years, she continued her…
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Narrative
Letter from a Zan Times journalist, recipient of the IWMF courage in journalism award
I am a girl who was born and lives in a very conservative and traditional province of Afghanistan. In this province, even during the past 20 years, women rarely had…
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Arts & Culture
A life as wide as the courtyard: A review of ‘Let Me Write to You’
The story Let Me Write to You by Nahid Mehregan takes place in the city of Herat during the first Taliban rule. The novel narrates the lives of several women…
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