Inside the WhatsApp groups Afghan women use to organise against the Taliban – The National

Hundreds share messages of support and organisation, relying on end-to-end encryptionActivists protest to demand equal rights for women under Taliban rule, in front of the presidential palace, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters It is past midnight in Kabul, but the phones of 180 Afghan women ping as messages arrive and screens light up with the persistent chatter of resistance against Taliban rule.Few on the WhatsApp group share their real names, and fewer still have a profile photo. But all are Afghan women, trusted with an invitation by a core group to plan a revolution.“We will continue to raise our voice. The world will listen,” one woman wrote.“Ufff, when will the morning come so we can go out [to protest] again?” another asked.The group’s name – changed often to avoid detection should any of the women be detained – is anonymous, as are the women who run it. But the theme revolves around a rough translation to “women’s justice”.It is one of many groups of largely Afghan women, some as young as 15, who are mobilising others to protest against the Taliban’s oppressive regime.The Taliban swept into Kabul on August 15, taking their strict ideology with them – one they used to…
Read More