Our Work In
It’s been over three years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, putting women and girls and LGBTQIA+ people of all genders at risk of violence and persecution. But MADRE is working diligently with our grassroots partners to advance human rights and protect activists in Afghanistan as well as in the countries they now call home.
As Afghanistan endured the Taliban takeover in 2021, MADRE worked with our local grassroots partners to help women and girls escape violence, establishing safehouses and providing material support. When massive earthquakes struck Afghanistan in June 2022, and again in October 2023, our relationships with local women organizers allowed us to rapidly deliver humanitarian relief to directly impacted communities.
SUPPORT OUR EMERGENCY WORK IN AFGHANISTANIn the years since the Taliban took power, we’ve provided documentation, advocacy materials, and training for women’s and human rights defenders in Afghanistan, and those who’ve been forced to flee. MADRE has organized multi-country trips, including with UN officials, to meet with refugees and Afghan women’s rights activists about crimes committed on the basis of gender. Thanks to your support of MADRE, we’re able to build the infrastructure and the access to ensure that women and LGBTQIA+ people in Afghanistan will finally see justice.
“MADRE and its supporters saved my life and the lives of my children…Thank God for the connection to the sisterhood and the feminist activists, when Kabul fell to the Taliban. Because of their solidarity, I finally received help”
Jamila Afghani Afghan Human Rights Defender
Sept 4, 2024
Open Letter to Permanent Representatives of Member and Observer States of the United NationsHuman Rights Council
On the occasion of the 57th UN Human Rights Council session, MADRE together with Afghan and international organizations is calling upon states to establish a parallel and complementary independent mechanism, in addition to strengthening the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights situation in Afghanistan, to investigate, analyse, and demand accountability for human rights violations, including the crimes against humanity of gender persecution, in Afghanistan.
Aug 15, 2024
Need for an Urgent Rethink of International Response to
the Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan
Joint Statement by the Alliance for Human Rights in Afghanistan
On the 3rd anniversary of the Taliban’s takeover, together with the Alliance for Human Rights in Afghanistan, we urge the international community to hold the Taliban accountable for the crime against humanity of gender persecution against women, girls, and LGBTQI+ persons, and to codify gender apartheid as a crime against humanity with an inclusive definition.
Taliban members have committed torture, murder, sexual violence, and other inhumane acts against women, girls, men, boys, and/including LGBTQI+ people, to enforce the Taliban’s imposed gender ideology. Gender violence services and legal protections have been all but eliminated, and the Taliban is denying girls and women fundamental rights to education, freedom of movement, expression, work, assembly, among others. These and other acts can amount to the crime against humanity of gender persecution. See below to learn more and read MADRE’s reports on gender persecution in Afghanistan.
These reports, part of an ongoing analysis series, describe Taliban policies to deprive fundamental rights on a discriminatory basis. The first two reports together focus on rights to education, assembly, expression and work. They describe crimes the Taliban have allegedly committed to enforce fundamental rights deprivations, and provide legal analysis explaining how these acts can amount to the crime against humanity of gender persecution.
Access to Justice Program
Survivors of gender crimes who seek justice face numerous challenges. As refugees, they may confront inadequate health and psychosocial care, language barriers, and a lack of supports necessary to connect with accountability mechanisms.
MADRE’s Access to Justice Program helps Afghan refugees—specifically women, girls and/ including LGBTQIA+ victims of torture, threats, and persecution by the Taliban—to call for justice. MADRE does this by supporting victims in meeting basic needs, including psychosocial support. We facilitate their access to international accountability mechanisms, when and if they are ready to share their stories, and work to ensure their wellbeing during these processes.
Recently, the Access to Justice Program provided an emergency grant to an LGBTQIA+ refugee for dental care. The Taliban had broken his teeth, but he couldn’t access the necessary care through government refugee programs. By providing targeted emergency grants, the Access to Justice Program is able to fill needs gaps and help victims to heal in dignity and find the strength to participate in ensuring accountability.
On August 15, 2023, the 2nd anniversary of the Taliban takeover, Arash Azizzada (Afghans For A Better Tomorrow) and Kate Alexander (MADRE) came together for an Instagram Q&A to discuss the aftermath, actions from those on the ground, and ways to support those affected. Watch the video on Instagram.
Kate Alexander supports MADRE’s advocacy programs to develop US foreign policies that advance the rights of women, LGBTQIA+ persons, and other marginalized groups. Her work at MADRE focuses on feminist peace and climate justice, partnering with grassroots women worldwide to bring their perspectives and analysis to shape US policy-making. Kate has written widely on humanitarian issues, including those facing Afghans.
Arash Azizzada is a second-generation Afghan American, journalist, filmmaker, and community and labor organizer based in Los Angeles, California. Along with Afghans For a Better Tomorrow, Arash is the co-founder of the Afghan Diaspora for Equality and Progress. His work has focused on ending the US-led occupation of Afghanistan and promoting the voices of women and other marginalized groups in Afghanistan in peace talks and reconciliation efforts.
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In uncertain times, think like a mother
NPR’s TED Radio Hour recently selected MADRE Executive Director Yifat Susskind's TED Talk to show how, in unpredictable times, we can stay calm, grounded, and on course.
