"In April, I sat down with an Afghan woman whose girlfriend and best friend had been captured and brutally tortured by the ruling Taliban. While trying to escape persecution, Maryam Ravish, 19, and trans woman Maeve Alcina Pieescu, 23, were stopped outside a VIP terminal in Kabul International Airport by police. After being accused of having LGBTQ+ content on their respective phones, they were detained, charged with the crime of being queer, and tortured."
"I vividly recall my interview with Parwen Hussaini, who narrowly avoided detainment, like it was yesterday. I recall seeing her on my screen, sat in the cramped, unsettlingly bland white room she now reluctantly called home, a desperate look on her face as her translator explained how the Taliban had shaved Maeve bald, forced her to grow facial hair, and demanded she recite the Holy Quran while enduring brutal daily beatings."
"It's stories like this that make Trans Awareness Week feel so bitterly absurd. The world has, over the past decade, become suddenly very aware of trans people. Polls suggest awareness of trans issues has gone from just 8 per cent in 2008 to 42 per cent in 2021. It has become so aware that trans culture and colloquialisms are increasingly used in mainstream public life (looking at you 'Protect the Dolls')."
An Afghan trans woman and her girlfriend were detained at Kabul airport after police alleged LGBTQ+ content on their phones, then charged and brutally tortured. One victim endured forced head shaving, coerced facial hair growth, Quran recitation under duress, and daily beatings. Despite international media attention and urgent appeals, no confirmed updates exist seven months later, and attempts to verify the victims' safety have failed. Rising global awareness of trans issues contrasts with persistent, severe threats in places like Afghanistan, underscoring life-or-death stakes for transgender people.
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