Swarthmore Friends Meeting

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

 

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Afghan women's rights activist Suraya Pakzad
to speak at Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse


 

Monday, March 23, 2009, 7:00 p.m.

The true and valid war in Afghanistan fights for basic human rights. At the forefront of this struggle is Suraya Pakzad.

For over a decade -- beginning in the darkest days of Taliban oppression -- Pakzad has organized to educate girls and women and to protect them from the abuses of tribal marital customs and of Islamist extremism.

Pakzad's schools may no longer hide donated books by a traditional hearth, ready to burn them at a moment's notice.

Suraya Pakzad, 2008

But radical Islamists still hold important positions in today's Afghanistan, and cultural customs perpetuate an abysmal human rights situation. Forced marriage at very young ages is the norm. Girls and women are standardly subjected to scorn and brutality without legal recourse. Many take their own lives in despair. Those who escape to Pakzad's shelter -- the first of its kind in the region -- are tainted with social stigma.

In addition to offering physical protection and emotional support to girls and women, Pakzad's organization, Voice of Women, works tirelessly secure paid employment for women. Pakzad has begun to build a social infrastructure that will go a long way toward achieving regional strength and stability.

Pakzad continues to receive death threats
for her crucial humanitarian work.

We are fortunate to be able to meet her on her first return to the United States after her acceptance last year of the rare honor of the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage award.

Please join us to hear Suraya Pakzad. Learn more about her work, and consider what can be done to help.

Monday, March 23, 2009, at 7:00 p.m.
Whittier Room, Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse
12 Whittier Place, Swarthmore PA 19081


Directions to Swarthmore Friends Meetinghouse