On the Line With: Gul Meena Women for Afghan Women:  Transforming Lives Every Single DayIn December 2012, the New York Times published a harrowing story about a young Afghan woman, Gul Meena, who had run away with a man who was not her husband only to be savagely attacked with an axe by her brother, according to Afghan police and her neighbors.  The man with Gul Meena, presumably her boyfriend, was axed to death. G... Read more

On the Line With: Zahreen Zahreen is 23 years old.  She came to the Transitional Home 7 months ago. Her little son, one and a half years old, was born in prison.  Zahreen lost her mother when she was a baby. When she was 5, her brother eloped with a girl, and her father gave Zahreen to that family in baad.  Since she was so young, she was kept with her own family until she was ... Read more

On the Line With: Mariam Mariam married an Afghan-American man and moved  to Virginia.  When she arrived in the United States, she learned that her husband was already living with a woman.  He told Mariam that she could stay with them, but she was expected to live with the couple as their maid.  Mariam's life there was filled with abuse.  Her father told her not to return to ... Read more

On the Line With: Freba Freba moved from Afghanistan to NY to marry Abdul, a man she had never met. He was violent, and when she was pregnant, he would point his gun at her stomach and threaten to kill the baby if it was a girl. They had two sons. Ten years later on a vacation to Pakistan, Abdul tricked Freba into separating from the family, keeping her passport and green card. He persuaded an imam to give him a div... Read more

On the Line With: Zakia When Zakia was 16 years old, her father was arranging her marriage to a 50-year-old man. Already in love with a boy named Tariq and unable to change her father's mind, she ran away with Tariq.  Zakia’s father and brother found the couple, killed Tariq and stabbed Zakia several times. They slashed her throat and left her for dead. But Zakia held her slit thro... Read more

On the Line With: Fatima 18 year old Fatima was abducted by a group of armed men which included the head of her village from her home in Baghlan Province.   Fatima told her WAW counselor: “Six people entered our house at night and three of them started beating up my poor parents with guns.  They broke my father’s head and hand.  I shouted and three of them pointed their guns at me, threatening to... Read more

On the Line With: Fariba Fariba is just 12 years old. Two years ago her parents got her older sister engaged against her will to an old man. Her sister eloped with another boy. Fariba’s sister’s fiancé, outraged, demanded that Fariba be given to him in baad*. Fariba’s family refused because he was old and a widower, and had many children including daughters the same age as Fariba. The fiancé then asked that Fariba be gi... Read more

On the Line With: Zahra WAW is happy to report that Zahra, a young Afghan immigrant who moved to New York City to be with her new husband, but was struck by tragedy last year when he was suddenly killed in an accident, is on the path to rebuilding her life. Zahra had been a regular and dedicated ESL student in WAW's NY community center.  When Zahra lost her husband she was new to the U.S. and suddenly found herself ... Read more

On the Line with: Mumtaz Mumtaz was sprayed with acid and had burns over 42 % of her body. She was attacked when she refused a marriage proposal.  WAW was able to send her to India for treatment thanks to donations from generous individuals in Kabul and also the gracious offer of the Indian government to cover her medical bills. Mumtaz would have died in Kabul. When she a... Read more

On the Line with: Sahar Gul   Sahar Gul was tortured and imprisoned for 5 months by her husband and in-laws.  She was barely alive when she was rescued from their basement. Sahar Gul spent some time in a Kabul hospital where WAW provided her with a full-time caregiver; she then moved to our shelter where she is recuperating. One of our lawyers is representing her in he... Read more

On the Line with: Nilab Nilab Nusrat is a 15-year old WAW client who received a standing ovation for her presentation at WAW's gala.  Many gala attendees have asked us how Nilab is doing. At 13, Nilab was living in the Kabul women's prison with her mother, who was convicted of kidnapping. A year later, in WAW's CSC, she was attending school, b... Read more

On the Line with: Aesha Aesha Mohammadzai, also known as Bibi Aisha, was WAW’s client for over two years. Aesha was the young woman whose Taliban husband and in-laws hacked off her nose and ears to punish her for seeking protection from the brutal treatment she had suffered at their hands for years. This brutal attack took place in 2009. After she was well enough to leave the U.S. military clinic, where she spent ... Read more

On the Line with: Shabana Last May a beautiful seventeen year old, Shabana, arrived at The Women for Afghan Women shelter in Kabul. She had narrowly escaped being killed by her husband, and had fled to the police station, where they referred her to us. In many ways, she epitomizes the cultural and legal powerlessness of many women living in Afghanistan today.  Shabana's father had died when she was young, and she had no ... Read more

On the Line with: Semin In 2007, Women for Afghan Women opened a shelter in Mazar-e-Sharef. One of our first employees there was a mom in her late 30s, Semin. She had been residing in our shelter in Kabul with her three children.  Semin graduated from Kabul high school in 1989 and went on to be employed in a local vocational school. Over the next 10 years, she advanced in her job and met a very nice professional young ma... Read more

On the Line with: Huma Huma came to Women for Afghan Women (WAW) three years ago when she was only 19 years old. When she was 14, her family arranged her marriage and a formal engagement took place. Her fiancé, Saif Allah, often visited her after the engagement. One day, he arrived with blood all over his clothes. He proceeded to take Huma to his home, even though a wedding had not yet taken place. Huma and her mother w... Read more

On the Line with: Torpekai Torpekai is one of the many very brave women in Afghanistan who has turned the injustice and cruelty in her life into strength, and used it to help others. Torpekai married at the age of 20, and she and her husband were happily married for about ten years. Together, they had one son and two daughters. Five years ago, tragedy struck Torpekai's family: while she and her children were visiting her m... Read more

On the Line with: Narwan Having married an Afghan married based in New York, Narwan dreamt of freedom and a new life in a new country. For six years after they wed, her husband gave her excuses for why he was unable to bring her to the United States. Finally, in 2001, after she gave birth to their first son, her husband agreed to bring her and their child into the US.  Upon her arrival, Narwan learned that her husband ha... Read more

On the Line with: Susan Susan is a Turkish woman who was sold by her father to a man twenty years older than her.  Her Turkish husband was a Permanent Resident in the United States, and he brought Susan here illegally.  He frequently abused her.  He kept her in their home like a hostage by telling her that her visa was expired and she would get into trouble if she ventured out.  She did not tell her family about the abus... Read more

On the Line with: Gul Andam When Gul Andam’s parents passed away she was forced to live with her brothers and their family. During that time, Gul Andam’s life was transformed to that of a slave. She was expected to serve their every need and was not permitted to go anywhere. Whenever the family was displeased they would physically and emotionally abuse her.  Gul Andam was a beautiful woman and had many prospective suitors, b... Read more

On the Line with: Nadia One afternoon, we received a troubling phone call in our Queens office. The caller reported that there was a young Afghan woman in the park—she was crying and couldn't make herself understood to those trying to help her because she did not speak English. We immediately went to the park, brought her to the WAW office.  She said her name was Nadia, and started telling us her story. At just 17, she m... Read more

On the Line with: Qandi Gul Qandi Gul was born in Kunduz province. When she was 16, her family arranged her engagement. Immediately after the engagement was arranged, however, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, and a repressive environment for women was established.  When Qandi Gul's fiancé came to get her, Qandi Gul's mother would not let her go—the men in the family were away and there was no one at home to help make... Read more

On the Line with: Khatera Khatera is a petite, 20 year old woman from Kabul Province with a big friendly smile and a heartbreaking story. She came to WAW's Kabul Shelter two years ago because she needed help obtaining a divorce from her 65 year old husband, whom she was forced to marry. (Both of her parents are dead, and her mother married her off just before she died in order to "protect" her.) She lived with her fiancé... Read more

On the Line with: Yahsameen Yahsameen is an intelligent, outspoken 30 year old woman from Herat who came to WAW’s Kabul Shelter because her husband was violent to her.  She also believes he committed adultery.  Because the Afghan government heavily favors fathers in the event of divorce, Yahsameen was afraid she would lose her two children if she attempted to dissolve the marital contract. After her first stay at the shelter... Read more