I went to a moving session at UN Headquarters which included a panel of Afghan women journalists who are often talked about but not listened to. Their pens are a form of freedom of expression that tell the stories of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Feminist journalists play a key role in raising women’s voices, uncovering violations of human rights and empowering women to take action. In Afghanistan, the Taliban government has severely restricted women’s participation in the media. Women can no longer study journalism at university. They can’t attend press conferences and they can’t report from the scene of events or interview the Taliban.

The courage of the women on this panel was inspiring. One of the journalists, Farahnaz Forotan, spoke about fleeing Afghanistan to France when the Taliban put her on their ‘wanted’ list. She grew up with a love of telling peoples’ stories and refuses to stop telling the stories of Afghan women and girls in exile. These stories of human rights violations and atrocities are not easy to tell and it’s so important that we hear them. However, these journalists face major challenges in connecting with women and girls in Afghanistan to tell their stories, especially because access to the internet is severely restricted for women and girls in the country.

One of the themes of the panel was on how the international community can support Afghan women journalists to continue their work for human rights. Representatives from several international development agencies spoke about their work to boost Afghan media, with a particular focus on women’s voices. They called for action from governments to help women journalists speak the truth about women’s human rights violations in Afghanistan and support movements for change.