I was talking about Afghanistan the other day and it was pointed out that the USA has an obligation to stay in Afghanistan because of the Taliban’s religious fundamentalism and atrocious treatment of women.... women of Afghanistan want freedom and human rights. In fact they have been fighting for them for a long time.... RAWA continued to stand for democracy, human rights, and secular values. more...

On the 14th of November 2009 a solidarity fund raiser was held to support the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). The fund raiser was held as part of the ‘Edinburgh Anti-Militarist’ week long event to oppose the Annual General meeting of NATO which took place in Edinburgh between the 13th to the 17th of November this year. more...

RAWA, the nation’s oldest and most illustrious feminist group, opposes the U.S. occupation. RAWA argues that the real enemy of women’s rights in Afghanistan is religious fundamentalism.... RAWA sees the U.S. occupation entrenching a regime stuffed to the gills with fundamentalists, reactionaries, misogynists, criminals, and warlords. more...

RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, is an underground women’s organization and one of the groups that predicted a long, deadly engagement. Zoya is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of RAWA and she joined us to talk about what would really be best for the women–and all the people–of Afghanistan. more...

Zoya, a 28-year-old member of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), travels the world to speak out against the Northern Alliance, the Taliban, and the U.S./NATO occupation of her country. Representing RAWA’s Foreign Committee, Zoya spoke at the Des Moines Public Library on October 6. more...

Politics. Love. Sexuality. Oppression. These were the recurring themes in Andrea Gibson’s slam poetry performance last Thursday evening. Her performance, played before a nearly full house, was a benefit event for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). All of the ticket sales and donations from the evening supported RAWA. more...

The women of Afghanistan, after eight years of occupation, offer conflicting advice, depending on their position in society. If the women are in Kabul, are educated and affluent, and have family members in office or are part of the government, they sometimes say, “our safety is in danger if U.S. troops leave." If the women are in the countryside (and 90% are) they say, “get the troops out now. Our rights, our freedoms, our safety have not improved in eight years of occupation — and the occupation fuels the insurgency.” more...

The 2002 book “Zoya’s Story: An Afghan Woman’s Struggle for Freedom” describes a life under the Taliban where women were largely confined to their homes and barred from working or going to school. .... Recently Zoya was in our area and VPR’s Steve Zind spoke with her. He began by asking her about the situation for women in Afghanistan today. more...

A few Sundays ago I attended a meeting at the Friends Meeting House in Amesbury. I listened to a talk by Zoya, an Afghani woman who is touring America as a representative of Revolutionary Association of Afghanistan Women (RAWA). Zoya spoke of the terrible conditions that prevail in her country, conditions such as gang rape, kidnapping, forced marriages, illiteracy, poor drinking water, lack of electricity, doctors and hospitals. more...

thepeoplesvoice.org: Afghan women reveal censored view of occupations, false liberations, tell U.S. and allies to get out of their country. The people of the world should know that though the disgusting, ludicrous and oppressive rule of Taliban was over in our ill-fated Afghanistan, this never means the end of the horrible miseries of our tortured women. more...

As the White House debates on how best to continue the war, an Afghan women’s rights activist who goes by the name Zoya, is touring the United States with the message that the occupation must end and that the US is not acting in the interests of ordinary Afghans. more...

Zoya, whose name has not been revealed in order to protect her identity, has been touring the United States in an effort to spread the message of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, a woman’s rights group. Women have traditionally been treated as a subclass in Afghanistan, and under Taliban rule, were denied access to many basic rights, such as education. more...

Open Media Boston: The keynote speech will be given by "Zoya" an Afghan activist from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). The Kabul based activist is on a bi-coastal speaking tour of the U.S. including Saturday’s Copley Square rally, Newton, MA on Sunday, Medford, MA and Portsmouth NH on Monday and then Los Angeles and San Francisco, CA. more...

CommonDreams: Brave New Foundation partnered with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), which requested a total of $15,000 to ensure that every family in the refugee camp would receive oil, rice, sugar, and blankets. All funds went directly to RAWA. The funds were raised due to the generosity of Brave New Foundation members in a short period of two weeks. more...

Eight years following the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the human rights situation has not improved, Zoya, a representative of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, said in a lecture in Carpenter hall on Tuesday. Zoya, who does not disclose her full name for security purposes, described how her organization seeks to promote peace, democracy and human rights in her lecture, “War and Reconstruction from the Perspective of Afghanistan’s Revolutionary Women.” more...

On the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Her identity is hidden for her safety. Zoya, a young woman from Afghanistan spoke recently in Des Moines about the tragic situation in that country. She spoke on behalf of RAWA, The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. Watch and listen to the passion, truth and courage of her message. No more troops. No more violence. No more war. more...

The Des Moines Register: As the young Afghan woman saw it, she had three choices in the face of the repression and violence ... She could flee to America to live with relatives. She could commit suicide, as so many other despondent young Afghans were doing. Or she could do what she did and take what she calls “the way of struggle,” by joining the resistance. more...

The Daily Iowan: Although she answers to “Zoya,” it is not her real name. As a speaker for Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan, a group pushing women’s rights, she must keep her identity a secret. The 28-year-old spoke to a group of roughly 60 UI students and community members at the Pappajohn Business Building on Monday night. more...

Democracy Now: We turn now to a voice from Afghanistan. Zoya is a member of the radical underground organization called RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan. She was a child during the Soviet invasion of her country. As a teenager, the mujahideen or warlords killed her activist parents. She fled with her grandmother to a refugee camp in neighboring Pakistan but later returned to her country to document life under Taliban rule. more...

Afghan Women’s Mission: Afghan Women’s Mission is pleased to announce a nation-wide tour of Zoya, a member of RAWA in October 2009, exactly 8 years after the start of the US war. Zoya will share the message of RAWA in New York, Washington DC, Boston, Iowa, Los Angeles, Berkeley, and San Francisco. more...