3 years since Afghanistan withdrawal: Taliban strip women of rights and education

PALESTINIAN HEALTH OFFICIAL THAT IS THE DEATH TOLL IS AT LEAST 16. WE'RE EXPECTING CASUALTY FIGURES TO INCREASE. JOSE? >> MATT BRADLEY IN TEL AVIV, THANK YOU. >>> THIS WEEK MARKS THREE YEARS SINCE THE U.S. WITHDREW FROM AFGHANISTAN AND THE TALIBAN RETURNED TO POWER. SINCE THEN THE TALIBAN HAS ESTABLISHED A NEW REIGN OF TERROR, INCLUDING BANNING WOMEN FROM SPEAKING OR SHOWING THEIR FACES IN PUBLIC. THEY STILL WON'T LET GIRLS GET AN EDUCATION BEYOND SIXTH GRADE. JOINING US NOW THE FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF LEARN AFGHAN, PROVIDING EDUCATION TO GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US THIS MORNING. WHAT HAVE THESE LAST THREE YEARS LOOKED LIKE IN AFGHANISTAN FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS? >> I THINK THE LAST THREE YEARS FOR A WOMAN HAS STRIPPED HER OF HER ABILITY TO BE A WOMAN AND CONTAINED HER TO THE FACT THAT SHE CAN ONLY BE HERE AT THIS POINT AND ANYTHING ELSE HAS TO HAVE SOMETHING DECREED. SHE CANNOT TEACH. SHE CANNOT GO OUT WITHOUT A MALE ESCORT. THEY CANNOT TAKE A CAB. THAT'S THE LIFE OF A WOMAN RIGHT NOW. >> HOW DO YOU PROCESS THIS? THIS IS A COUNTRY WITH AN EXTRAORDINARY RICH HISTORY AND CULTURE. DURING THE TEN YEARS OF WAR AND OCCUPATION, THERE WAS SUCH A CHANGE IN SO MANY THINGS. HOW DO YOU PROCESS THIS RAPID CHANGE? >> I THINK FOR ME THE ONE THING I HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE KNOW IS THAT AFGHANISTAN HAS SUCH A RICH HISTORY, BUT A VERY FEMINIST-LED HISTORY. WE HAVE WOMEN AND LEADERS FROM THE PAST AND THEN WE HAVE WOMEN 100 YEARS AGO WHO WERE MINISTERS. WE HAD WOMEN IN THE 1980s LEADING RALLIES AND STUFF. FOR ME I FEEL LIKE TALIBAN HAS THIS SORT OF MEMORY LOSS WHERE THEY KEEP ON SAYING, OH, THIS IS OUR CULTURE OR THIS IS HOW WE GO ABOUT EVERYTHING. I QUESTION THIS IDEA OF WHAT OUR HISTORY TEACHES US? WHY IS THE TALIBAN DISREGARDING THE HISTORY MOVEMENT OF AFGHAN WOMEN? THEN AT THE SAME TIME I THINK AT THIS POINT IT'S HARD TO PROCESS IT. THE BEST WE CAN DO IS JUST TO MAKE SURE WE GET THROUGH IT, DO OUR PART AND MAKE SUREPART. YOU'RE LIVING IN EXILE IN THE U.S. WHILE RUNNING AN UNDERGROUND SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN AFGHANISTAN. TELL ME ABOUT THAT. >> WE ARE RIGHT NOW AT FIVE SCHOOLS HOPING TO EXPAND TO THREE MORE SCHOOLS. WE WORK WITH 661 GIRLS FROM AGE 13 TO 18. OUR HOPE IS TO EXPAND TO ALL 34 PROVINCES AND MAKE SURE THAT EDUCATION IS AS ACCESSIBLE AS POSSIBLE SO THE NEXT TIME OUR EDUCATION IS POLITICIZED BY MEN IN MY COUNTRY, JUST BECAUSE THEY WANT TO GET THEIR WAY AROUND EVERYTHING. >> OBVIOUSLY, THE HURDLES THAT YOU FACE ARE ENORMOUS. HOW CAN PEOPLE HELP. ? >> I THINK I DON'T WANT TO DISREGARD THE PEOPLE THAT WORK WITH ME. WE AS A TEAM HAVE DONE AMAZING STUFF. THEY ARE WOMEN TEACHERS WHO SHOW UP IN PERSON EVERY DAY TO TEACH. THEY ARE YOUNG STUDENTS, WHO SHOW UP TO THESE SCHOOLS. THEY ARE STAFF MEMBERS THAT IN HIDING PAY THEIR SALARIES TO TEACHERS AND STAFF. WE HAD TO SMUGGLE COMPETITIONS. I DON'T WANT TO DISREGARD THEM. I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE GRACE WHAT THEY DO BECAUSE FOR ME I LIVE IN EXILE AND DO THIS. THEY LIVE EVERY DAY AND STILL GET TO SHOW UP AND DO ALL OF THAT. AND I THINK FOR NOW, ANY AFGHAN WOMEN WERE TO ASK THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM AND JUST PEOPLE OF THE WORLD IS JUST TO SUPPORT THE WORK, AND MAYBE EVEN DEDICATE SOME TIME, TALK ABOUT THE WORK. THAT'S THE BEST WE CAN DO. I DON'T EXPECT ANYTHING OUT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. THE UNITED NATIONS OR ANYONE ELSE, AND WE'RE GOING TO WAIT FOR THEM TO COME AND RESCUE US. I BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE AROUND US BELIEVE IN THAT AND WOULD CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THAT. >> DO YOU HAVE ANY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF AFGHANISTAN, SUCH A RICH, BEAUTIFUL CULTURE? >> ALWAYS. AFGHANISTAN IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY WITH SUCH AN AMAZING HISTORY. AMAZING WOMEN. SO MY HOPE FOR AFGHANISTAN IS THAT IN THE NEXT TEN YEARS, WHO KNOWS, ALL THESE GIRLS WE'RE EDUCATING THEY WILL BECOME ALL THESE AMAZING LEADERS WHO WILL WORK WITH THEIR COMMUNITIES, BUILD THEIR COMMUNITIES AND ATMENT SOL POINT, THE WORLD WILL REALIZE THE TALIBAN IS NOT THE ONLY SOLUTION TO AFGHANISTAN. >> MAYBE