Wahida Amiri

Wahida Amiri is an Afghan librarian and women's rights activist. She was featured in the BBC 100 Women 2021 for her continued efforts protesting against the Taliban and their ban on women's education and right to work.

Early life Amiri was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, and started school in 1996, just before the Taliban entered government. One of their orders was to shut schools to girls, and Amiri found her education halted. Many of her relatives fled to Panjshir, in the north of Afghanistan, but her father chose to stay. Amiri's father remarried after her mother died, and the family relocated to Pakistan. The family then returned to Kabul, where education was opened to girls again, and women could work. However, life remained the same for Amiri, cooking and cleaning for her family as opposed to accessing the education now open to her. Five years after returning to Kabul, Amiri was eventually encouraged to enroll in school by her cousin. Amiri turned up to work and found the door locked, and her library closed. She subsequently joined the "Spontaneous Movement of Fighting Women of Afghanistan", where she marched on the streets with fellow women to advocate for women's right to work. They were met with tear gas, shots in the air, and even beatings. Amiri continued despite this. However, she and a number of other women were arrested in February 2022 and taken to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, where they were kept for 18 days.