Girl Power - Afghanistan: FIGHTING THE WORST MYSOGYNISTS ON THE PLANET

Girl Power - Afghanistan

In war-weary Afghanistan women are still sold to pay debts and brutalized by family members. This report exposes the full horror of their plight and introduces the brave women combating the injustice.

Even in Afghanistan amidst endless unfolding horrors, the case of a 15-year-old girl named Sahar Gul shocked and ashamed many Afghans as they saw images of her brutalised body. The teenager was imprisoned and tortured at the hands of her husband's family, because she refused to become a prostitute. She was cut, burned with cigarettes, beaten to a pulp and many of her fingernails were ripped out. She was barely alive when police found her. "It's not just Sahar, there could be many more we're not aware of." Even after the ultra-misogyny of the Taliban has retreated into isolated pockets, women in Afghanistan are desperately downtrodden. "I think when you are born a woman in Afghanistan you are taught every day to hate yourself. Women don't respect themselves." But across town, another teenager Noorjahan Akbar refused to look away. And, as an Australian TV producer working in Afghanistan points out, Noorjahan is not alone. "I see now a generation of amazing young women, determined to make a change." Through the eyes of Noorjahan this is a confronting but ultimately inspiring story of emerging female power in Afghanistan.

A Film By ABC Australia
Distributed By Journeyman Pictures
March 2012