"It is her home and also her prison. She doesn't leave it much these days. But she does have a bat, and a ball, and spends her days training with her four sisters in the small garden and the courtyard of her house. Sometimes, when the Taliban are in the street outside, they train in the basement, so no one can hear the sound of young women having fun."
"Since Afghanistan was handed back to the Taliban just over four years ago, women's rights have disappeared. There is no cricket for girls in fact no sport at all. There is no secondary school, no university, no dancing, almost no employment. Beauty parlours were shut last year, clandestine beauty parlours cracked down on this year. Women may no longer take a walk in a park alone, they cannot sing in public, or let their singing be heard through an open window."
"They may not train as a midwife or a doctor, but nor may they be treated by a man. They may not talk loudly, they may not take a taxi without an escort, they may not stand by a window and watch the forbidden streets go by. They may not make eye contact with a man who is not a relative, they must cover themselves completely if they leave the house."
Sixteen-year-old Fawzia lives in Afghanistan where her home also functions as a prison. She trains with her four sisters in the garden, courtyard and sometimes the basement, using a bat and a ball, and dreams of playing international cricket. Safety fears and lack of institutional support make that dream impossible. Since the Taliban returned to power, women's rights have effectively disappeared: girls face bans on sport, secondary and higher education, dancing, many jobs, and beauty parlours. Rules now forbid solitary walks, public singing, gym attendance, medical training, treatment by male providers, unescorted taxis, loud speech, eye contact with non-relatives, and require full covering.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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