Zahra Joya

They say they are protecting our “honor,” our “values,” but let’s be honest — they are protecting their fear.
They’re terrified of a woman who can think. Because once a woman begins to think, she begins to question.

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The Taliban held a press conference at the Afghan embassy in New Delhi on Sunday with female journalists present, two days after attracting a storm of criticism for reportedly turning women and foreign journalists away from a similar event.

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I’m so proud and privileged to be part of this amazing college community! Thank you so much for your support ❤️

People’s Tribunal for Afghanistan’s Women Begins in Spain - Rukhshana Media A hearing into the Taliban’s treatment of women in Afghanistan opened on Wednesday in the Spanish capital, seeking to amplify the voices of victims and hold the group accountable for human rights viol...

A hearing into the Taliban’s treatment of women in Afghanistan opened on Wednesday in the Spanish capital, seeking to amplify the voices of victims and hold the group accountable for human rights violations.

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We're delighted to announce the appointment of Sarah Gibson as the new chair of the Rukhshana Media board of trustees.
Sarah brings a wealth of experience in international journalism and is a committed advocate for equality and inclusion.1/3

Afghanistan was plunged into isolation on Monday as internet services were cut and mobile communications severely disrupted.

Then this month, the Afghan Education Ministry wrote to schools saying it was removing 51 subject headings from the curriculum, describing them as anti-Islamic.

That was until 2021, when the Taliban returned to power in her native Afghanistan. Now, the pool in Kabul where she used to swim is dry, the building abandoned and its doors bolted against the young women she once coached.

During the @Cam.ac.uk Alumni Festival, @ZahraJoya.bsky.social, Afghan Journalist & founder of @rukhshanamedia.bsky.social, & Laurie Bristow, former UK Ambassador to Afghanistan, will discuss why education is resistance in oppressive regimes.

Details & booking:
www.hughes.cam.ac.uk/about/events...

the group’s supreme leader had personally taken the decision to allow the removal of women’s photos from the cards on the advice of the Dar al-Ifta, or religious council.
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Most of the children she sees are moderately malnourished, the legacy of poverty and a series of droughts that have compounded the difficulties of life in a region known for its harsh climate.

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Excited to be part of this amazing event! It’s an honor to speak alongside Sir Laurie and share the stage with such inspiring minds.
If you are around and interested, please join us! You could book the tickets for the event! 👇🏿

More than 800 people have been killed in an earthquake in a remote mountainous part of eastern Afghanistan, a Taliban spokesman said on Monday.
Read more: rukhshana.com/en/hundreds-...

“Now, I don’t think I can keep going because the risk is too high [but] I don’t know any other work. Our situation is very bad, but in this world there is no one to hear our voice or support us,” she added.

Mahnaz, whose real name we are withholding at her request, is one of around half a dozen women interviewed by Rukhshana Media in Herat who left Afghanistan hoping for a better life and have now returned, penniless and homeless.
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For more than a decade, Radio Nasim had operated as a rare independent and non-partisan voice in central Afghanistan, home to the country’s Hazara ethnic group.
Read more: rukhshana.com/en/afghan-ra...

A hospital worker in Afghanistan has told Rukhshana Media how she was abducted by the Taliban, held captive and gang-raped over several days before being abandoned in the desert and left to die, in what she believes was a punishment for doing her job.
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When the Taliban issued a decree barring women from attending universities, “it felt like everything was over,” she says. “I just read books and scrolled Instagram, but I felt like my life had stopped.”
Read more: rukhshana.com/en/against-a...

I’m happy to share that Rukhshana Media has now started publishing in Pashto. With this, we now publish in three languages. Farsi, Pashto and English! This challenging journey wouldn’t have been possible without your generous support. Thank you! 💜

🗣️ #WPSWednesday: In #Afghanistan, “most female-led businesses have collapsed, due to Taliban control, ineffective aid & a failure to go beyond symbolic actions that provide little genuine support for women’s enterprises.” @rukhshanamedia.bsky.social rukhshana.com/en/a-market-...

For this story, Rukhshana Media spoke to families and psychologists in Mazar-i-Sharif, which before the Taliban takeover in 2021 was one of Afghanistan’s most prosperous and liberal cities, to assess the impact of these changes on children.
Read more: rukhshana.com/en/an-invisi...

Taliban arrest dozens of young Afghan women over hijab rules - Rukhshana Media Dozens of young women were detained in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday and taken into custody in an unknown location.

Taliban arrest dozens of young Afghan women over hijab rules
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She was a second-year agriculture student when the Taliban barred women from attending university, and could see her career plans disappearing before her eyes. If she couldn’t get a job, she decided, she would set up on her own.
Read more: rukhshana.com/en/how-a-you...

ICC issues warrant for Taliban’s supreme leader for persecution of women - Rukhshana Media The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for the persecution of women and girls.

ICC issues warrant for Taliban’s supreme leader for persecution of women

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“You filed a complaint with the commission, and I can’t forget that. You shamed me in front of everyone. You questioned my manhood,” she recalls him telling her.
Read more:

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“I told him, ‘This time, when I return to Zebak, it will be with my degree in hand.’ But instead, I came back with tearful eyes and a heart full of pain,” says Lina as she recalls the day her hopes of a different life were cut short.
Read more: rukhshana.com/en/how-afgha...

Taliban arrest Afghan media workers over promotion of feminism - Rukhshana Media an Afghan cultural organisation that makes short films about life in the country on charges of promoting atheism, Christianity and feminism.

Taliban arrest Afghan media workers over promotion of feminism
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Escaping Afghanistan was painful but staying meant silence – or worse - Index on Censorship As an exiled journalist, I urge the UK government to provide real protection for those forced to flee their countries for telling the truth

#Afghanistan 🇦🇫 Exiled journalist @zahrajoya.bsky.social urged global support for the local media who face harsh restrictions under #Taliban rule. "If the world ignores them, their voices, & their stories, may be lost forever." @indexoncensorship.org

Her cracked lips seemed to scream the wounds of her life. Blood seeped from the fissures in her parched skin, and her eyes, like two deep hollows, had sunken into her thin, worn face.

Read more: rukhshana.com/en/from-a-ch...

Afghan journalist @zahrajoya.bsky.social reminds the #UK government, on #WorldRefugeeDay, that protecting those forced into exile for their safety is not only a human right, but a defence of truth, history, & freedom itself: www.indexoncensorship.org/2025/06/esca... @rukhshanamedia.bsky.social