The same pro-Taliban commander who had forced her father to agree to Ms. Yari’s engagement with his son then demanded Ms. Yari’s older sister as a bride, she said. When her father refused, she said, he was kidnapped in 2000 and has not been heard from since. Her father’s fate is a reminder of how far she has come, Ms. Yari said, and how common it still is for Afghan women to be treated as property. Ms. Yari has a prominent job: She reviews human rights and civil rights cases brought by civil service employees in the American-backed government in Kabul. It is a position that would have been inconceivable for a woman under Taliban rule, but it is no insurance against harassment or harsh judgments, Ms. Yari said.

Source: New York Times September 06, 2020 07:00 UTC