August 15 is the day lights went out for women and girls in Afghanistan when the Taliban took over power. There have been recent stories in the Guardian newspaper which tell stories of the desperation women and girls are feeling, as they are denied access to work, education and even being together in women only places like beauty salons (see link for copies of recent articles).

The article published on July 3 finished with this sobering sentence: “Earlier this week, Taliban officials took part in a special meeting on Afghanistan hosted by the UN in Doha to discuss the country’s future. No Afghan women were present at the meeting and women’s rights were not included on the agenda.”

RAR has a year long campaign to speak up for women and girls in Afghanistan. We have printed 4,000 postcards which we are urging our members and supporters to send to The Prime Minister, The Foreign Minister and the Minister for Women, as well as their local MPs and Senators. We call on the Australian Government to use its influence and role with the UN to speak out against the gender arpartheid in place in Afghanistan

Please contact Secretary.rar.australia@gmail.com if you want copies of the postcards sent to you.