My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban: A Young Woman's Story

This book provides a first-hand account of daily life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Latifa (a pseudonym made necessary by death threats to the author and her family members) lived with her family in a middle-class area of Kabul. Her country had been at war her entire life. Over the years, Latifa and her family members struggled to be apolitical just so they could survive the frequent regime changes. One of her brothers served in the army under the Soviets, only to become a political prisoner under the regime; another was sent to university in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on a Soviet scholarship. When the Taliban took over Kabul, Latifa found herself virtually imprisoned in her apartment, forbidden by the Taliban from attending the university where she had just passed her entrance exams. Her sister had been an airline stewardess and her mother a doctor, but both were forbidden from continuing their professions. Her father was a businessman, whose Kabul warehouses were being continually destroyed in battle. In this book, Latifa describes daily life for her family after the Taliban took control. She describes listening to edicts on the radio, forbidding women from working and girls from going to school. Women and girls were also not allowed to be treated by male doctors, and since women doctors were forbidden from practicing, this effectively shut half the population out from being able to receive any kind of health care. Women had to be covered from head to toe if they were to go out in public, and they had to be escorted by a male relative. On one of the few times Latifa dared go out of her apartment for a walk, she witnessed a horrific beating of women whose feet were covered but who had committed the apparently reprehensible crime of wearing the wrong color shoes. At the beginning of her story, Latifa is an ordinary teenager, excited with fancy dresses and movie stars. But as the years go by, and she finds herself and all other women that she knows forbidden from participating in society in any, Latifa becomes more and more concerned with women's issues-indeed she becomes a feminist, although she had most likely never heard the term before. It's fascinating to read in her descriptions of childhood in Kabul of what a relatively normal life her family had been able to lead, despite the wars and political upheavals. This contrasts sharply with the changes brought in by the Taliban, when marriages could no longer be celebrated, and teachers could be beaten for providing lessons to little girls. Latifa's occasional references to Dubai kept bringing back my own memories of the young Emirati women I taught there at about the same time Latifa was stuck in her apartment. In class one day at the height of Taliban power, I asked the students to construct an argument for why women should be educated. "But why?" they asked in shock. "Everyone knows women should be educated. No one would say otherwise-it's in the Q'uran." When I tried to tell

I first read this book when I arrived in Afghanistan in 2002. When I went to Kabul a month later, I was astounded at how the book resonated with the battered and bombed out Kabul I saw. 9 out of 10 building were bombed out, cars rusted and overturned in the streets, filthy children begging. That was Kabul in 2002. During my 2 years in Kabul, I had the opportunity to talk to many Afghans, and hear their stories of the Taliban. While each had their own story, the truth of Latifa's tale was borne out again and again. After reading the book, I asked questions on why birds and dogs were banned, why little boys could not fly kites and the ruling against any pictures. So I was able to get more indepth answer of the whys that I didn't completely understand in the book. Today, it is much better. Many of the buildings have been repaired, schools are open for both boys and girls, and the Afghans are working incredibly hard to rebuild their country and restore their culture. And today, kites again fly over Kabul.

Récit d'une jeune femme Afghane de 16 ans qui rêve d'être journaliste mais dont la vie quotidienne va s'arrêter lors de l'arrivée des taliban à Kaboul en 1996. A partir de ce jour, la vie n'a plus de sens, l'électrité, l'eau sont coupées, les écoles fermées, les media confisqués et les femmes sont humiliées, battues, niées, condamnées à rester chez elles et porter un tchadri. Une vie qui les isole, les enferme, et où elles sont condamnées à disparaître. Les humiliations rythment leur vie quotidienne ( on leur coupe les doigts en pleine rue si elles portent du vernis à ongles, elles sont violées, battues, coupées, ...) le tout dans un climat de guerre qui oppose le commandant Massoud et les taliban. L'Afghanistan est alors un pays livré à lui-même , isolé et délaissé par la communauté internationale et la ville de Kaboul où des centaines de roquettes quotidiennes tombent sur la ville, est soumis à la loi des taliban qui chaque jour offrent aux habitants un spectacle d'horreur. Latifa et sa famille vont vivre cet enfermement jusqu'a l'extrême jusqu'au jour où sa mère soignera clandestinement d'autres femmes, désormais exclues de soins et jusqu'au jour où Latifa ouvrira une école clandestine dans leur propre logement. Un souffle de vie reprendra dans la maison grâce à ces activités clandestines et Latifa et sa famille parviendront à quitter leur pays incognito pour se rendre à Paris et dénoncer, crier les souffrances du peuple afghan face à une barbarie qui n'a pas de nom. Une démarche pour redonner de la dignité au peuple afghan et surtout aux femmes et qui fut pour elle l'occasion d'écrire ce livre.

..............this story is a must for anyone interested in world history, women's rights, or the tyranny that sometimes occurs in the name of "religion". Latifa takes us through nearly five years of her life, beginning in Afghanistan as a sixteen year old, through approximately four years under house arrest simply for being female (under the Taliban) and finally to her liberation in France where she related her story. Latifa brings us every detail of the recent history of Afghanistan and the impact it has had on she and her family and her people, in general. This courageous and very bright young woman makes no effort to hide the hideous truths of the evil actions of the regime that ruled her country until late last year. Every horror she and her family personally witnessed and suffered through is here in this book. We also get a close glimpse into the psychological strength of Latifa and her female family members as they attempt to cope on a daily basis with being robbed of the most basic of liberties, from simply leaving their homes when they please, without a man to being able to laugh aloud or own photographs, keep their pet dog or play music in their homes. The oppression suffered by the Afghani people are probably amongst the worst I've encountered in any reading I've ever done on the subject of tyrannical regimes. Somehow, Latifa survives and is able to tell us this story, the truth about the events in Afghanistan and it's impact on the people. This book is an absolute must!

This is an excellent read. It's the story of Latifa, a 15-year old Afghan who has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. She's intelligent, perceptive and so full of life. But she has already witnessed so many coups and invasions. Yet the worst is yet to come with the arrival of the Taliban. Latifa finds herself and her family virtually imprisioned in their own home. Women cannot go outside unaccompanied by a male and they are obliged by decree to wear a huge heavy black garb that covers the body entirely. There are slits in the material where women can just barely see through. Education for women is banned. Women can't work outside the home. Professional women who have worked at top levels in the old Afghanistan are now treated as little better than animals. Atrocities occur on a daily basis - public executions and amputations, torture, rape, beatings and whippings in the streets.Latifa and her family are finally forced to flee their homeland. It's only then that she gets the chance to put her experiences onto paper and to let the world know what the Taliban is doing to a people who are left broken, friendless and desperately alone.For anyone interested in history, war, politics or simply in true life stories this is a wonderful piece of work which should be read and highly publicised.