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Carmignac Photojournalism Award - 14th edition Afghanistan: No Woman's Land

Posted on September 07, 2024 - By Fondation Carmignac
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Carmignac Photojournalism Award - 14th edition  Afghanistan: No Woman
Carmignac Photojournalism Award - 14th edition  Afghanistan: No Woman

An Intimate Look into the Battle for Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

A COLLABORATIVE REPORT BY MÉLISSA CORNET AND KIANA HAYERI


The 14th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award is dedicated to the condition of women and girls in Afghanistan following the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021. The Award was granted to the reporting project proposed by the duo of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Kiana Hayeri and French researcher Mélissa Cornet, which was produced over a six-month period with the support of the Fondation Carmignac.

Over the course of the last six months, Kiana and Mélissa travelled to seven provinces in Afghanistan* to investigate the conditions imposed on women and girls by the Taliban, which, according to Amnesty International's research, could constitute a possible crime against humanity of gender-based persecution.

They met with more than 100 women and girls, barred from going to school, forced to stay at home, women journalists and activists continuing to fight for their rights, mothers watching with horror as history repeats itself for their daughters, as well as LGBTQI+ individuals. They documented how the Taliban, allowed by a deeply patriarchal society, have systematically erased women from society, taking away their most basic rights: to go to school, to university, to work, to travel, to dress as they wish, to go to public baths, to parks, or even to the beauty salon.

The starkest change that Kiana and Mélissa noted since August 2021 was the general loss of hope among women that things might improve for them, as dreams of having an education and becoming members of society were shattered before them, becoming the primary victims of recurring economic and food crises, and a health system that has all but collapsed. In the words of one women’s rights activist, who has since left the country, seeing no future for herself in Afghanistan: ''We have forgotten joy, we don’t know from where any can be found. I’ve lost all motivation. I cry alone, hidden. It’s as if someone has locked me in a room and won’t let me outside. Even food has no taste.''

Kiana and Mélissa used different media to document this highly sensitive situation, including photographs, sketches, and videos, but also art created collaboratively with Afghan teenage girls.


Kiana Hayeri

© Kiana Hayeri for Fondation Carmignac


Jalal Abad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan, February 12, 2024. A family, recently deported out of Pakistan has temporarily settled in suburban neighbourhood of Jalal Abad in eastern Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans have been forced out of Pakistan following the ongoing crackdown on illegal foreigners, some of which after decades of living in Pakistan. Women and girls are the most affected by the consequences of forced displacement, with for example high rates of child marriage.


Kiana Hayeri

© Kiana Hayeri for Fondation Carmignac


Kabul, Afghanistan, February 17, 2024. In West Kabul, a private institute teaches 700 high school girls the American curriculum in English, though they can't earn Afghan education certificates or attend university locally, as women's education is restricted. Remarkably, the school has tacit approval from local Taliban authorities. Security measures are strict, with armed guards monitoring entrances. Despite prior bombings, the institute remains full, with students aspiring to study abroad. Girls' high schools haven't reopened post-Taliban, limiting education to grade 6. Yet, underground schools persist, educating girls at great peril in homes, mosques, and other venues.


Kiana Hayeri

© Kiana Hayeri for Fondation Carmignac


Kabul, Kabul, Afghanistan, February 3, 2024. Girls playing in the snow in western Kabul behind an apartment block, off the main road. Since the takeover, women and girls' rights to move without a male chaperon or to go to parks have been curtailed, and very few opportunities to find joy in their daily lives remain. A snowstorm in a quiet neighbourhood of Kabul western suburb offered such a chance for an hour of playing together. Even then, an eye is always kept on the surroundings, looking for a sign of a Taliban patrol.


Kiana Hayeri

© Kiana Hayeri for Fondation Carmignac


Yamit District, Badakhshan, Afghanistan, May 10, 2024. Kheshroo's daughter and her cousin, both grade 11 students who were put out of school, committed suicide a year before by throwing themselves in the water. The family plays in puddles of water, among troops of yaks, horses and goats, in front of the Wakhan mountains, Wakhan, a region that had never been controlled by the Taliban before 2021.

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