Refugee Rights Turkey Project #53793

Supporting Afghan Women and Girls on the Move

by Association for Social Development and Aid Mobilization

Project Report | Apr 27, 2022
Building A Better Future for Afghan Women

By SGDD-ASAM | SGDD-ASAM

40-year-old Afghan teacher, A.K., who came to Turkey with her family 8 months ago, is a primary school teacher, dropped out of high school. She taught history and geography at school. A.K. had taught for 10 years and struggled to educate girls who married at a young age. Hence, sometimes the windows of her house were broken and sometimes she received threatening letters. She says the Taliban were influential in the village where they lived before they came to power. She tells her story as follows: “I was against the early marriage of girls and was trying to raise awareness of families about this issue so that they could study. Most of the women gave birth at home. I was asking them, 'Why are you giving birth at home, you should give birth in the hospital?' And they were saying to me, 'Can you talk to my husband? The women were happy with my support. But I stood in the spotlight for defending women's rights. I got a reaction when it affected a few families to prevent children from marrying at an early age. The villagers said to my husband, "If the Taliban comes, we will all sign your wife's stoning paper." It was like a nightmare… I was going to be stoned for defending women's rights…

Although it hurts, A.K., who left his country with her family for her safety. She continues to explain: “Some of the girls at the school were attending school even though they were married. Some men were working in Turkey, Iran, or Europe. They paid the bride price and took the girls. After marriage, the spouse would return to the country where he worked, and the married girls would stay with their spouse's family for a certain period, until their spouses earn money and come back, which is about 3-4 years. He was doing their job and taking care of them.”

Explaining that one of the issues that upset her the most while fleeing Afghanistan was "the marriage of an 11-year-old girl to a 55-year-old blind man," A.K said, "Afghan women should not be seen as slaves. The 11-year-old girl had a lot of dreams. She was still a child. This is so painful. My concerns about my daughter's future were also influential in my leaving the country. My daughter is with me, her future will not be like theirs. If the Taliban leaves power in the future and I do not have a life safety problem, I would like to go to my country and give training. Education and training is the absolute right of girls there. Women are not slaves. They have the right to life. This right to life includes education and training. Their education will cast light on future generations. A 5-year-old girl was ordered to do things that are much older than her age in the house just because she is a girl, I saw her sweep the yard and the barn. After I had a daughter, I realized and learned what they were going through. I mean, most girls might not even be able to say that there. Older generations gave in to something there, but it shouldn't be like this.”

A.K has benefited from many services of Associaton For Solidarity With Asylum Seekers and Migrants(ASAM) since coming to Turkey. She was informed about national asylum procedures for international protection in addition to consultancy on access to health services and institutions providing social and financial assistance. In Turkey, A.K. continues its migration journey that started in Afghanistan, thanks to experts who serve it in their mother tongue by ASAM.

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Dec 29, 2021
Afghan Girls Living in Turkey

By SGDD-ASAM | SGDD-ASAM

Afghan Girls Living in Turkey

Their dreams are to return to their country and serve.

"Taliban wanted to kidnap us because we were going to school"

“Girls should not be married at an early age”

Tomorrow, October 11, is International Day of the Girl Child. While millions of girls around the world are dealing with poverty and migration problems, especially girls who cannot go to school in Afghanistan remain on the agenda. The practices of the Taliban regime, unfortunately, do not give positive signals about the future of girls. We asked Afghan girls living in Turkey about their dreams. When the children grow up one day, they want to go to their country and serve if the Taliban leaves power.

“In the village we live in, they used to complain about us to the supporters of the Taliban, saying 'these girls are going to school'. They also pressured us not to go to school. They came and threatened us. They even wanted to come to our house and take us away, our neighbors saved us,” tells Sharbat.

The Afghan girl, who came to Turkey with her family 7 months ago, is only 16 years old, and what she experienced is more than her age. Noting that they could not go to school regularly because of the supporters of the Taliban, Sharbat said that their teachers supported them a lot: “Our teachers were very good. On the days we went to school, they would somehow give extra lectures in case we couldn't come tomorrow. The schools were mixed but the classes were separate. Girls' classes were separate, boys' classes were separate. My favorite subject in school was math. We were happy at school, but after we got out of the school gate, our life became troubled again”.

Stating that they dreamed of the future with their girlfriends despite all the difficulties, Sharbat said, “Our neighbor's daughter, my sister and I would sit down and talk about our dreams. I wanted to be an architect, an engineer, my brother a dentist, and our neighbor's daughter wanted to be a midwife. In the village where we live, they did not take women to the hospital during childbirth, and our friend wanted to be a midwife to help them. We came to Turkey, but we do not know what happened to our friend," she said.

Explaining that she feels safe in Turkey, Sharbat first wants to learn Turkish and enroll in school. Wishing that education should be made compulsory for girls in Afghanistan, contrary to the current situation, she said, “I want Afghan girls not to get married at an early age as soon as they open their eyes on International Day of the Girl Child. One day when I grow up, if the Taliban is gone, I wish to return to my country and take part in its rebuilding. If I could, I would like to build a school. Let them study not only in cities, but also in rural areas, but not only until secondary school high school, but also at university.”

(Note on family: They have 4 children, they came from Afghanistan after a 1 month of troublesome travel.)

General Coordinator of ASAM, Ibrahim Vurgun Kavlak stated that they have provided many services to refugee children in Turkey within the scope of the Al Farah Child and Family Support Centers Project for Asylum Seekers and Migrant Children, which UNICEF (United Nations Children's Aid Fund) and SGDD-ASAM have been carrying out in cooperation since 2016.Kavlak said, “Since the beginning of the project, we have been striving to create a safe environment for children under temporary and international protection and their families, and to improve their mental, emotional and psychomotor development. During the Al Farah Child and Family Support Centers Project, we enabled nearly 60 thousand girls to participate more strongly in life through studies aimed at improving their mental, emotional and psychomotor development. Among the services we provide are information and counseling are given to nearly 70,000 girls in the fields of law, education, health and nutrition.'' he said.

(Note: Real name of the beneficiary has been changed.)

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