London, 27 November
MARCH FOR FREEDOM FOR AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS
London, 27 November
MARCH ROUTE
Marble Arch > Park Lane > Piccadilly > St James St > Pall Mall > Cockspur Street > Whitehall > Richmond Terrace
Click here for an interactive map
SCHEDULE
11.30 am - arrive at Marble Arch underground station
12.00pm - the march sets off promptly from Park Lane
1.15pm - march arrives at Richmond Terrace (off Parliament Street by Ministry of Defence)
1.30pm - rally and speeches start at Richmond Terrace
2.30pm - rally finishes and crowd to disperse
OUR 3 KEY ASKS OF THE UK GOVERNMENT
1. SUPPORT A GLOBAL SUMMIT FOR AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS
2. ANY UK NEGOTIATION WITH THE TALIBAN MUST CENTRE THE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS OF AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS. This means appointing a Special Envoy for Afghan women and girls, adopting a Consultative Mechanism in UK policy making that can engage with an advisory group of Afghan women, ensuring negotiating teams are 50 percent women and taking measures with international partners to hold the Taliban to account for the curtailment of women's rights and denying girls the right to education.
3. ESTABLISH AN ASYLUM AND RESETTLEMENT ROUTE FOR AFGHAN WOMEN AT RISK
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the UK’s Afghanistan exit policy would prioritise Afghan women and girls. However, there is still no specific legal asylum route for women. According to the July 2022 Report by the Foreign Affairs Committee on Afghanistan, only 295 vulnerable "principals" (plus dependents) were resettled out of 15,000 people in Operation Pitting. Whilst there is no gender breakdown provided for these figures, only 11 were women’s rights activists.
We wrote to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak when he was a leadership candidate and hope that the granting of an asylum route for Afghan women at risk could be something that can now be reviewed: Truss and Sunak urged to help Afghan women as only 11 activists settle in the UK since Taliban takeover (inews.co.uk) .
THE PLIGHT FACING AFGHAN WOMEN AND GIRLS
Afghan women and girls have faced some of the harshest consequences of Taliban rule, whilst leading the fight to protect human rights in Afghanistan. Western Governments have failed to listen to their pleas and stand in solidarity.
- Afghan women and girls face draconian restrictions unlike anywhere else in the world and it is getting worse with threats, beatings, cases of kidnap and rape, forced marriage, extrajudicial arrests with dangerous conditions of confinement, denial of due process and abusive conditions of release.
- Women are segregated in every walk of life and cannot leave the house unaccompanied.
- Women cannot work to support their families. Twenty million people are facing starvation and women are being hit most acutely.
- Girls’ secondary school education is banned.
- Women are forced to wear the burqa.
AFGHAN WOMEN ARE STILL FIGHTING, THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS STAND WITH THEM. Their fight is our global fight. For equality. For dignity. For living lives of our choosing.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
- Sign up and show up at the London March for Freedom - please fill in the Eventbrite to help us have an idea of numbers - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/solidarity-march-for-afghan-women-girls-tickets-461354402437. Bring your own banners and Afghan flags OR feel free to use the posters we have provided below and bring them to the march.
- Share our messages on social media i.e. our 3 Key Asks and hashtag #FreeAfghanWomen.
- Write to your MP (see the template provided in the next section).
- If you cannot attend the March for Freedom, download posters below, and take a picture of you or a group holding them up and post it on social media. Remember to include us in the tweet (@A4Afghanistan) and add the hashtag #FreeAfghanWomen.
Poster Gallery - CONTACT US FOR DROPBOX LINK FOR DOWNLOAD
A NOTE ON POSTERS
Posters for our campaign have been designed by University of Gloucestershire Design and Creative Advertising students ( @Uni of Glos and @UOGGD ). Students were set the poster brief by Zehra Zaidi, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Action for Afghanistan, when she visited the university to give a presentation about the impact of design on societal issues.
COALITION FOR FREEDOM // MARCH & GLOBAL CONFERENCE
Action for Afghanistan is the march organiser but is working with a network of partners and supporters. This network is working on London and global marches in November, and towards a Global Conference for Afghan Women & Girls.
Our "Coalition for Freedom":
- Action for Afghanistan
- Afghan Women Coalition for Change (AWCC)
- Afghan Women's Advocacy Group (AWAG)
- Afghan Women's Network (AWN)
- Afghanistan Solidarity Coalition (ASC)
- International Civil Society Network (ICAN)
- Alternative Links for Training and Development
- The U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council (USAWC)
- Women for Peace and Participation (WPP), UK and Afghanistan
- Rahela Trust
- Rabia Balkhi
- Omid International
- Roshan Foundation
- Chadari Project
- Hazara Committee UK
- APPG Hazaras
- Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan
- Global friends of Afghanistan
- Cooperation and Solidarity Network of Women of Afghanistan and Iran
- International Campaign for Afghan Musicians
- Mosaic Afghanistan
- Untold – Write Afghanistan
- The Circle NGO
- IKWRO Women's Rights Organisation
- University of Gloucestershire
- Fawcett Society
- Mumsnet
- Women’s Budget Group
- Southall Black Sisters
- FiLia
- Centenary Action Group
- Azadi Charity
- Sulha Alliance
- British Future
- More in Common
- Hope Not Hate
- Breaking Barriers
- Women's Groups of political parties including events in support of Afghan women and girls e.g. Green Party Panel Event on 22 Nov
- IMIX (strategic advice)
- Refugee Council (strategic advice)
- Pro bono advice from Sam Smethers
- Standard Issue Podcast
- She Speaks We Hear Podcast
MEDIA ON MARCH
- Guardian article (26 November) - https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/26/london-marchers-to-call-for-safe-asylum-route-for-afghan-women
- Evening Standard article (26 Nov) - https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-march-afghan-women-girls-afghanistan-asylum-marble-arch-b1042850.html?amp
- Arab News article (26 Nov) - https://www.arabnews.com/node/2206541/world
- Yahoo article (26 Nov) - https://uk.news.yahoo.com/london-protesters-call-legal-asylum-165518038.html
- Mumsnet blog (24 Nov) - Guest Post: "The honest truth is that we have let the women and girls of Afghanistan down’’ | Mumsnet
- Stylist magazine (20 Nov) - Afghanistan: a march supporting women is coming to London (stylist.co.uk)
- Times Radio interview with Fawzia Koofi (12 Nov) - Afghanistan has become a prison for women - YouTube
- Times Radio Interview with Liz Saville Roberts MP (12 Nov) - sadly video no longer available
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