Noorjahan Akbar is a feminist advocate and author from Afghanistan. She has worked with several Afghan and global organizations focusing on women’s empowerment and ending gender-based violence and led nation-wide campaigns and protests in defense of human rights. She currently runs Free Women Writers, a collective of activists and writers in Afghanistan and the diaspora advocating for gender equality and social justice, where she’s published two books, دختران رابعه and You Are Not Alone/تو تنها نیستی, a booklet for Afghan women facing violence at home.
Noorjahan has been recognized for her efforts for gender equality at home and internationally and published on Al Jazeera and The New York Times, among other outlets. She was Glamour Magazine’s College Women of the Year in 2013 and featured on Forbes’s Women Changing the World, Fast Company’s League of Extraordinary Women, and The Daily Beast’s Women Who Shake the World lists.
Noorjahan has a BA in Sociology from Dickinson College and a Masters in Journalism and Public Affairs from American University.
For more information, visit her website.
Sub-specialties: Women’s rights and issues, feminism, Afghan women, gender-based violence, education, the intersection of international development and women’s rights.
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Exiladas nos Estados Unidos, irmãs afegãs temem nunca mais reencontrar a família
Marie Claire [August 17, 2021] -
Afghan women write their own stories to fight for gender equity
The Christian Science Monitor [July 17, 2018] -
Meet the activist telling the stories of Afghan women that usually never get heard
The Tempest [January 22, 2018] -
Afghanistan’s Romeo And Juliet And How They Escaped An Honor Killing
The Diane Rehm Show [January 25, 2016] -
Beyond the Headlines: The Role of Women
Women for Women International [June 1, 2015] -
The Women of Afghanistan Sing for Freedom
The Wip [August 29, 2014] -
Education and empowerment in Afghanistan
TEDx [May 6, 2014] -
Afghanistan: Girl Power
Al Jazeera [May 17, 2012] -
Afghan women: priority or bargaining chip?
Al Jazeera [May 16, 2012] -
Education remains only for privileged Afghans
Al Jazeera [July 28. 2011] -
Afghan women fight back against harassment
Al Jazeera [July 13, 2011] -
Raped Afghan women have no hope of justice
Al Jazeera [July 8. 2011] -
Noorjahan Akbar Articles
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