JURIST EXCLUSIVE – Law students and lawyers in Afghanistan are filing reports with JURIST on the situation there after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Here, a female law graduate in northeast Afghanistan reports on local conditions for women under the Taliban. For privacy and security reasons we are withholding our correspondent’s name and institutional affiliation. The text has been only lightly edited to respect the author’s voice. 

When I came back to Badakhshan, I found the situation here is worse than Kabul. In Kabul we could go somewhere with suitable dresses and clothes. But here we have to wear Burqa (we call it Chadari). They argue with women that don’t wear that. Maybe they can’t say anything bad or behave bad with people in Kabul because it will reflect globally. But in Badakhshan there is no media to reflect everything.

Last week when my husband and I went to the court to get marriage certificate, the Court’s guard who was Talib didn’t allow me to enter the court because I hadn’t dressed up in their favor, despite that I wore suitable dresses. I argued a lot with him. He warned us that he would imprison both of us. I was very scared and stopped the argument. But were we finally admitted and the department manager behaved well.