In the face of unrelenting discrimination since childhood, inflicted by some of the world’s most harrowing terrorists, an Afghan refugee living in Canberra is now a catalyst for Afghani women’s rights.

Dr Farkhondeh Akbari remembers fleeing Afghanistan as a child and arriving in Australia when she was just 12 years old. While many pre-teenagers might be concerned with the latest fashion trend, the Afghan girls had already experienced more violence than most people will in a lifetime.

She insists on using her voice to speak out to oppose the current actions of the Taliban against the women of Afghanistan, and the Australian Government’s responsibility to welcome them to safety.

“I was born during the war in Afghanistan and displaced internationally for some years. I’ve been a refugee since the late 1990s,” says Dr Akbari.

“When I was 12, we came to Australia after living in Pakistan and Iran for a few years. I wasn’t allowed to go to school in those countries, so coming to Australia one of the first things we did was enrol in school.”

She distinctly remembers landing in this foreign country. It was past midnight when the plane touched down in Perth, and it was August, so she found the weather to be a “bit cold”. It was weeks before anyone in her family was able to speak to someone from the local Afghan community, and they didn’t know a single person in the entire state.

Formally beginning her education in 2004, Dr Akbari distinctly remembers buying her very first school uniform and backpack just two days after landing in Perth – there was no time to waste.

“I would see kids going to school, and I would watch them wear their bags and their uniforms and I wished that could be me,” she says.

“I had dreams for a better future for myself and my siblings, and one of the things we aspired for was an education. That was the main thing we were fighting for, everything else was marginal compared to that.”

Dr Akbari didn’t spend long in Perth and was resettled in Griffith NSW after six months, which is where she completed high school. Recalling the bullying she was subjected to on the school grounds, she knows firsthand how mainstream media can shape perceptions in society.

“Griffith is a small town, and there’s not a huge Muslim community. Not to mention I arrived just after 9/11 and the Iraq war was constantly on the news. I would wear my headscarf to school, and being a refugee meant I had to answer for all those terrible things,” she recalls.

“I would be chased around the school, and they’d say things about Osama bin Laden and AK47s but they didn’t understand that I escaped from all those things. We work very hard to be able to fill the gap we have missed in education and language and fulfill the expectations of us from society and our community.

“Mainstream media does shape public perceptions around refugees and our faces and voices need to be normalised on national platforms to remove the stigma around us.”

As soon as she turned 18 and was allowed to travel on her own, Dr Akbari returned to Afghanistan for the first time since her family had fled. It was 2010, and she was finally able to get a feel and sense of the country she had left at such a young age, as she couldn’t remember much from her early childhood.

Attending university was something she had wished for her whole life, and her dreams were realised upon moving to Melbourne. After completing her bachelor’s degree, Dr Akbari decided to head back to Afghanistan during her gap year and work at the Human Rights Commission.

Relocating to Canberra after living in Melbourne, she completed her master’s degree and PhD at the ANU in International Relations researching Afghan women, minorities, and political corruption.

Her extraordinary story of perseverance prevails through to adulthood, as she has dedicated her life to ending the continued oppression of women in Afghanistan. She says women activists across her homeland are disappearing, being abducted, and extrajudicial killings are being performed as we speak.

“The country that I come from, whatever suffering there is, women always end up on top of the list. Violence against women is rampant in Afghanistan – it’s the worst place to be a woman,” Dr Akbari says.

“The country has been in conflict for so long now, and women are not the decision makers but are the most affected in war. It’s important the voices of women are enhanced and supported to speak out.”

Seeing the resilience of women in her homeland, particularly of those in her family, she says it’s her responsibility to talk about advocacy for women when others struggle for the basic rights she now has.

“I see my cousins and my friends… how much they battle for very simple and fundamental rights. It starts at home with their fathers and their brothers – letting them go to school, participate in society,” Dr Akbari says.

“It’s a long struggle for women in Afghanistan, and for someone like me who has had the opportunity to live abroad, live peacefully, and get an education, it’s not a choice to speak out – I have to.”

Dr Akbari says the Australian Government was involved in the war in Afghanistan, and their troops were part of the destruction and war crimes committed. She says the federal government has a humanitarian responsibility to address the concerns, especially with women, because of Australia’s part in the coalition forces.

“They promised democracy, human rights, dignity… now we are back to square one with the Taliban back in power. Women are the first victims of the Taliban and women advocates are right now in hiding because their lives are at risk. Australia needs to rescue these women in their refugee intake,” she says.

“Women are half the population in Afghanistan, and they have absolutely no rights. Right now, they can’t go to secondary school, they’ve lost employment… overall, they are in a very dire humanitarian crisis.

“There is a gender apartheid happening and if women in Australia care about the rights of other women and speak out about it, we can change the Taliban regime.”

Dr Akbari’s final message is one of solidarity. She says there are many Australian Afghani organisations that accept donations to assist women in Afghanistan – even if the amount given is small.

“These women shouldn’t be on their own. They’re not forgotten, and they haven’t been betrayed.”

Australia must do more against the Taliban

Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) CEO Sandra Wright says to protect Afghan women who are at the hands of the Taliban, the Australian Government must do more.

“The Taliban’s rule is having a devastating impact on women’s safety, livelihood, and identity. We are calling on the federal government to follow in the footsteps of Canada and the UK and increase the intake of Afghan refugees to no [fewer] than 20,000,” Ms Wright says.

“We have the capabilities to resettle many more refugees, and moments like this are exactly when we should put them to maximum use. With International Women’s Day just passed, we must remember the plight of Afghan women.”

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