With their Malala Fund grant, Horia and her organisation support human rights defenders under threat in Afghanistan and advocate for the recognition of gender apartheid in international law.
Afghan human rights defender Horia Mosadiq spent more than 30 years fighting for justice for her fellow advocates. Knowing how dangerous a career in social justice can be for Afghans, especially for women, she established an organisation that keeps human rights activists safe through financial assistance, security measures and international advocacy.
“I really thought that there wasn’t any local mechanism to respond to human rights defenders who are at risk. Many human rights defenders when they were facing threats had to seek support from international organisations,” Horia explains. “That was the main reason we established [this] organisation — as a response to the growing security threats against human rights defenders, and to create something local to respond to the needs of Afghans in the country.”
Before the Taliban takeover in 2021, Horia and her team pressured Afghan leaders to protect journalists and human rights activists by drawing attention to activists whose work put them in high risk situations. They also provided activists with safety training, cybersecurity classes and mental health support.
Since the Taliban’s return to power, dangers to those fighting against injustice have sharply increased. Undeterred, the organisation continues to support activists still in the country and in exile, while advocating around the world for Afghans’ rights. In 2022, Horia spoke at the European Parliament about gender apartheid in Afghanistan, the systematic oppression of women and girls under Taliban rule. With Malala Fund’s support, Horia and her team are pressuring international leaders to recognise gender apartheid as a crime against humanity and advocate for Afghan women and girls’ rights.
“If [international organisations] are ignoring the plight of millions of women and girls in Afghanistan who are being subjected to the severe form of systematic discrimination and apartheid because of their gender, how they can say they are standing for human rights if they are ignoring the rights of more than half of the population of a country?” asks Horia while referring to international bodies like the U.N.
Horia and her team aim to strengthen their advocacy in Afghanistan and globally through building a coalition with organisations from around the world. They are also working to bring Afghan voices to the forefront of global conversations through media outlets.
“The least that the members of the international community can do is listen to the people,” says Horia. “They have to listen to [Afghan] women because at the end of the day — especially when there are political crises, when there [is] war, when there [is] political unrest — it’s women that always suffer more than anyone else.”
