This is how Zahra Nader a freelance journalist describes Afghanistan under current Taliban rule to Amy Goodman on Democracy Now this week. In a week that saw many protests across the world tied to International Women’s Day, a small group of women in Afghanistan bravely sat outside the University they are now barred from entering to protest their exclusion from higher education.

The Taliban, who have now been in power for a little under two years, have been described as creating the most repressive country for women in the world by the U.N. Women are effectively trapped in their homes under new rules of movement, work, and education. This to the detriment of women and the country as a whole which is consequently suffering a humanitarian and economic crisis.

Access to education is also under threat in Iran where 1000 girls have been poisoned attending school. This follows large scale protests and arrests that began in September 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police. While international attention may have waned, resistance in Iran has continued with ongoing acts of defiance in the face of the repressive regime and subsequent arrests of journalists, athletes, people who dare dance in the street.

Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian to win the Nobel Peace Prize, said:

“It’s not just about hope and ideas but action”

Action gains greater power through collective force. Feminists have always understood that solidarity is strength. All of us wherever we may be can do something. Find what actions you can take, they will vary by person and place, to stand together with those facing utter hopelessness.