Author: Mursal Ayar

Mursal Ayar is a 27-year-old journalist and activist who dreams of justice. She previously was a parliamentary reporter and also worked for CNN, supporting investigative reports into harrowing human rights abuses and restrictions experienced by Afghan women under the Taliban. A prominent member of the Afghan Women Justice Movement who participated in multiple protests between August 2021 and January 2022. Mursal’s name became synonymous with the Taliban’s violence campaign against women when she was abducted from her home on February 2, 2022. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Kabul University. She awaits an offer of asylum from a Western country.

‘Dark Prison Mirrors the Dark Future of Afghan Women’: A Firsthand Account of a Former Taliban Prisoner

Since the fall of Kabul on Aug. 15, 2021, Afghan women—many of whom dedicated their lives and careers to working for equality—have experienced a systematic campaign of violence and subjugation. Many took to the streets to protest, and in turn have been beaten, arrested, tortured and murdered. This firsthand account of Mursal Ayar’s life and arrest is a powerful reminder of our common humanity, and the duty we all share to protect the world’s most vulnerable—yet remarkable—activists. 

“After those 13 days, I am like a little girl who is afraid of the night. I sleep next to my mother. The Taliban have not only taken my country from me; they have taken everything from me. My peace, my dreams, my hope and courage. I left the Taliban prison, but I could not regain what I have lost forever.”