Freedom won & lost

In 1970s, a brief era of hope for Afghan women was crushed

In most parts of the world, women’s rights have moved forward over the past 50 years. And then there’s Afghanistan.

Women had been making strides over the past two decades — becoming police officers and governors, forming cricket teams. But with the Taliban in charge, that’s all gone, as women flee, hide or die at the hands of the new government.

For those old enough to remember, it is a heartbreaking callback to a half-century ago, when Afghan women started to come out from under the veil — only to have their dreams crushed.

French photographer Laurence Brun Lacombe lived in Afghanistan from 1971 to 1972 and snapped women throughout the country (right). “Outside of Kabul, every woman wore the chador [burkha],” she recalled. But in Kabul, women were attending classes with men and pursuing careers.

“Some women were fighting for their rights but the traditions were very strong so it was not so easy,” Lacombe said.

One day, she came across a group of young women in miniskirts. “I didn’t believe what I was seeing . . . it was dangerous for them. They could get acid [splashed] on their legs,” she said.

In 1973, King Zahir Shah was overthrown by his cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan, a pro-Soviet general who gave women new rights, only to be killed five years later. In 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the United States funded anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters — who, eventually, formed the Taliban.

Any gains by women in the country disappeared.

“Everybody I know who has been there can’t forget this country,” Lacombe said. “It is so sad what is happening now.”

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