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Malala Yousafzai has been campaigning for women's rights since she was shot dead by a Taliban gunman in 2012.
A bullet couldn't silence her. Today, Malala Yousafzai lends her voice to the women of Afghanistan.
Just a few years after the Taliban regained control of the country, women's rights have been eroded to the point where even singing is banned.
Malala has a personal history with the Taliban across the border in Pakistan, after a gunman from the hardline Islamist group shot her as she sat on a school bus.
The speed of change in Afghanistan, even its brutality, surprised Malala, who since that near-fatal shooting in 2012 has campaigned for equality.
“I never imagined that women's rights would be so easily compromised,” Malala told BBC Asian Network.
“A lot of girls find themselves in a very desperate and depressing situation where they see no way out,” says the 27-year-old Nobel laureate.
“The future looks very bleak to them.”
In 2021, the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan, 20 years after a US-led invasion toppled their regime following the September 11 attacks in New York.
In the three and a half years since Western forces left the country, “moral laws” have caused Afghan women to lose dozens of rights.
A dress code means they must be fully covered, and strict rules forbid them from traveling without a male chaperone or looking a man in the eye, unless they are related by blood or marriage.
“The restrictions are so extreme that it doesn’t make sense to anyone,” Malala says.
The United Nations (UN) says these rules amount to “gender apartheid” – a system in which people face economic and social discrimination based on their sex and that the human rights organization Amnesty International wants to see it recognized as a crime under international law.
But these rules have been defended by the Taliban, who claim that they are accepted in Afghan society and that the international community should respect “Islamic laws, traditions and values of Muslim societies”.
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Malala has been working on a new film that follows the lives of three Afghan women as their rights are stripped
“Women have lost everything,” says Malala.
“They (the Taliban) know that to suppress women's rights, you have to start at the bottom, which is education.”
The UN says that since the takeover, more than a million girls are out of school in Afghanistan – around 80% – and that by 2022, around 100,000 students have been banned from university courses.
There is also a correlation between lack of access to education and increased child marriages and deaths during pregnancy and childbirth.
“Afghan women are going through very dark times today,” Malala says.
“But they are showing resistance.”
The Pakistani-born activist, who became the youngest person to win a Nobel Peace Prize, is executive producer of an upcoming film, Bread & Roses, which documents the lives of three Afghan women living under Taliban rule.
The documentary follows Zahra, a dentist forced to abandon her practice, activist Taranom, who flees to the border, and civil servant Sharifa, who loses her job and her independence.
But the film doesn't just tell the stories of three women, Malala says.
“It’s about the 20 million Afghan girls and women whose stories may not make it to our screens.”
Bread & Roses was directed by Afghan filmmaker Sahra Mani and American actress Jennifer Lawrence was also brought on board as producer.
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The Taliban were ousted when US troops invaded Afghanistan in 2001, but returned to power 20 years later.
Sahra tells Asian Network that her mission was to “tell the story of a nation under the dictatorship of the Taliban.”
“How slowly all rights were taken away.”
Sahra managed to flee Afghanistan after the collapse of the US-backed government following the withdrawal of troops in August 2021.
But she stayed in touch with women in her country, who shared videos that she then collected and archived.
“It was very important to find young, modern and educated women with talents and ready to dedicate them to society,” explains Sahra.
“They were ready to build the country, but now they have to stay at home and do nothing.”
Although the film has not yet been released, Sahra believes that the situation in Afghanistan has already deteriorated to the point that it would be impossible to do so if it started now.
“At that time, women could still go out and protest,” she says.
“Today, women are not even allowed to sing… the situation is becoming more difficult.”
First-hand footage shows the women at the protests – they kept the cameras rolling while being arrested by the Taliban.
And Sahra says the project only got more complicated over time, as more and more of their rights were stripped away.
“We were truly honored that these women trusted us to share their stories,” she says.
“And it was really important for us to put their safety among our priorities.
“But when they were in the streets demanding their rights, it wasn’t for the documentary.
“It was for them, for their own lives, for their own freedom.”
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American actress Jennifer Lawrence produced the film which she says is about “the nature of resistance”.
Malala says that for Afghan women, “the challenge is extremely difficult.”
“Despite all these challenges, they are on the streets risking their lives to hope for a better world for themselves.”
The three women featured in the film no longer live in Afghanistan and Sahra and Malala hope the film will raise awareness of what the women who remain endure.
“They are doing everything they can to fight for their rights, to make their voices heard,” Malala says.
“They're putting so much at risk. It's time for us to be their sisters and support them.”
Malala also hopes the documentary will generate more international pressure on the Taliban to restore women's rights.
“I was completely shocked when I saw the reality of the Taliban taking over,” she says.
“We really need to question what kind of systems we have in place to ensure the protection of women in Afghanistan, but also elsewhere.”
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Sahra (right) says she is grateful that Malala “shared her platform” with women in Afghanistan
And as much as Bread & Roses is about stories of loss and oppression, the film is also about resilience and hope.
“We have so much to learn from the courage and bravery of these Afghan women,” says Malala.
“If they are not afraid, if they do not lose the courage to stand up to the Taliban, we should learn from them and we should stand in solidarity with them.”
The title itself is inspired by an Afghan saying.
“Bread is a symbol of freedom, of earning a salary and providing for the family,” explains Sahra.
“There is a saying in my language that says that the one who gives you bread is the one who commands you.
“So if you find your bread, that means you’re your boss.”
This is exactly the future she hopes to see for Afghan women, and from what she has seen, it is a future she believes they will eventually achieve.
“In Afghanistan, women keep changing tactics,” she says.
“They continue to look for a new way to continue to fight back.”
Listen to a long interview with Malala and Sahra on BBC Asian Network News Presents at 11:00 p.m. on November 18 or catch up on BBC Sounds.
Bread & Roses will stream worldwide on Apple TV+ starting November 22.
Additional reporting by Riyah Collins.
Listen to Ankur Desai's show on the BBC Asian Network live from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Thursday – or listen again here.
