Mrs Maihandost with the women who attended the workshop in Trier, Germany
On February 2022, the European Parliament organised “Afghan Women Days“, a high-level conference to shed light on the situation of women in Afghanistan. While it is undoubtedly important to discuss the status of women living under a dangerous Taliban regime, it is just as crucial to understand the situation of Afghan women who have fled the country and are in varying migration status in Europe. It is within this context that the following project was developed.
As part of WIDE+ migration and gender working group, under the project frame, “Expanding Spaces for Capacity-Building and Exchange to Strengthen Women Migrant Movement-Building Across Europe”, Voice of All Women and its partner, Afghan feminist Shahla Maihandost, have launched a series of workshops for Afghan migrant women in Trier, Germany. Mrs Maihandost is a refugee in Germany who left Afghanistan 5 years ago. Back in Afghanistan, she was working for the ministry of women affairs and also established an NGO to aid internally displaced people and refugee women. Since arriving in Germany, given all the multiple barriers that migrant women face, she finds it necessary to share her experiences and knowledge with other migrant women. This collective consciousness-raising will then contribute to a transformative process that will empower migrant women to see themselves as powerful agents of political and social change.
The workshop sessions held last month in Trier covered topics like human rights and gender-based violence. Around 20 women joined the sessions and they are keen to have more training sessions on these topics. There will be more sessions to come, and WIDE+ and VOAW will share further updates.
For more information on this project and the working group, kindly contact Nurhidayah Hassan at hassan@wideplus.org.