Zohra Rasekh
Zohra Rasekh | |
|---|---|
Rasekh in 2013 | |
| Born | 7 February 1969 Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Died | 2025 (aged 55–56) |
| Alma mater | George Washington University Harvard University |
| Employer(s) | Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women |
| Organization | Global Watch Group (GWG) |
| Notable work | The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan |
Zohra Rasekh Kashanian (7 February 1969 – March 2025) was an Afghan doctor, women's rights activist and writer. She was the co-author of the report The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan and was a member of Global Watch Group (GWG), Physicians for Human Rights, and the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
Biography
Rasekh was born on 7 February 1969 in Kabul, Afghanistan. She moved to the United States of America when she was 16 years old.[1] She studied public health at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., United States.[2] In 2006, she graduated from Harvard University with a certificate in Women and Security.
Rasekh was a Senior Health Researcher for the Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights (PHR).[3][4][5][6] After spending 2 months[7] in 1998 and 1999 interviewing almost 200 Afghani women in Afghanistan and in refugee camps in neighbouring Pakistan,[5][8] Rasekh co-authored the report The Taliban's War on Women: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Afghanistan.[3][4] During her research trip, she was "chased by a young man wielding a metal cable because her wrists had been exposed in public."[9] Through her work, Rasekh identified discriminatory policies against women living under the Taliban's rule, such as the demand that they wear a burqa at all times outside the home,[4] and also claimed that 95% of women despised Taliban policies on women.[10] She reported that women living in camps in Pakistan had a high rate of depression, displacement hardship, and related health problems.[11]
In 2002, Rasekh contributed to the book Women for Afghan women: Shattering myths and claiming the future.[12] She also attended the first public showing of Lorraine Sheinberg's documentary Shroud of Silence: Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan.[13]
After the fall of the Taliban, in 2003 Rasekh was invited by the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan to become director of an office for gender affairs, health and human rights issues in Afghanistan.[14][15] Rasekh was also president and CEO of the non-profit organization Global Watch Group (GWG),[2][16] chaired Aid Afghanistan for Education,[17] and was elected as vice-chair for the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CDEAW).[2][16][18]
Rasekh died in March 2025.[16][17]
References
- ^ "America's New War: Life in Kabul". CNN Transcripts. 21 September 2001. Archived from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ a b c "Zohra Rasekh". Roya Institute for Global Justice. Archived from the original on 11 September 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ a b "War on Women". Wilson Center. 21 February 2000. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ a b c "Rasekh, Zohra". Fresh Air Archive: Interviews with Terry Gross. 5 August 1998. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ a b Working Woman. Vol. 25. MacDonald Communications Corporation. 2000. p. 66.
- ^ Milczarek-Desai, Shefali (14 December 2018). "Hearing Afghan Women's Voices: Feminist Theory's Re-Conceptualization of Women's Human Rights". Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law. 805. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ Women's International Network News. Women's International Network. 1999. p. 52.
- ^ Skaine, Rosemarie (28 June 2010). The Women of Afghanistan Under the Taliban. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8174-3.
- ^ Mansbach, Richard W.; Rhodes, Edward (2000). Global Politics in a Changing World: A Reader. Houghton Mifflin. p. 419. ISBN 978-0-395-84970-5.
- ^ Women Lawyers' Journal. Women Lawyers' Club. 1997. p. 8.
- ^ Ponzetti, James J. (2003). International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family. Macmillan Reference USA. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-02-865672-4.
- ^ Mehta, Sunita (4 October 2002). Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-6017-7.
- ^ Ms. Magazine. Vol. 12. Ms. Magazine Corporation. 2002. p. 70.
- ^ "Returning Home to Help". The Washington Post. 17 October 2003. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ "Round Table on Afghan Women's Issues". Bureau of Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 12 February 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ a b c Haidari, M. Ashraf (13 March 2025). "Honoring the Legacy of Zohra Rasekh: A Champion of Human Rights and Displaced Women". Displaced International. Archived from the original on 13 March 2025. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
- ^ a b "We are deeply saddened to share that our dear Zohra Rasekh Kashanian, former chair of AAFE, has passed on..." Aid Afghanistan for Education. Retrieved 4 January 2026 – via Facebook.
- ^ Farhoumand-Sims, Cheshmak (2009). "CEDAW and Afghanistan". Journal of International Women's Studies. 11 (1). Bridgewater State University: 136–156. Archived from the original on 3 November 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2026.