Maryam Maroof Arvin is the 30-year-old co-founder of the Purple Saturdays Movement. Every week, the women's rights advocacy group organizes peaceful protests against the massive curtailment of women's freedoms in Afghanistan.

They are trying to raise awareness about civil rights and democracy in Afghan society. The organization was founded in the capital, Kabul, after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

"We can only rely on ourselves," Arvin told DW.

She is one of several women's rights activists still in Afghanistan who refuse to give up. Arvin and the other women in her network don't only organize protests. Girls are no longer allowed to attend school after sixth grade, so the women teach them secretly at home. They also collect aid for single mothers and needy families and care for orphans.

Since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in August 2021, the most vulnerable people in society have been left to fend for themselves. Almost all international aid organizations have left the country because the Taliban systematically violate human rights, women's rights in particular.

The Taliban has introduced a series of laws and political measures that deny women and girls across the country their basic rights........

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