“If I were in Kabul, they would have already killed me”, Marzieh Hamidi, Afghan taekwondo champion, denounces the Taliban dictatorship

“Being a woman is not easy, not just in Afghanistan. It’s hard everywhere. But of course, it’s even harder when you come from Afghanistan.” Marzieh Hamidi, born in Iran, had to flee Afghanistan after the takeover of power by the Taliban in August 2021. At 22 years old, this taekwondo champion, competing in the -57kg category, fights from France to make the voices of Afghan women heard. “Women are invisible in Afghanistan”she assures franceinfo, during this international day for the elimination of violence against women, Monday November 25.

After speaking before senators at the end of October, she continues to denounce the living conditions of women in the country which has returned to the hands of the Taliban. “EThey tell me that[ils] beat a woman in the street because her burqa was not worn properly. Imagine, even with the burqa, they create problems and think it’s not enough”she is indignant. Some are imprisoned and raped. “It’s gender apartheid, she moves forwardwe are fighting and pushing for it to be recognized as a crime against humanity.”

Even thousands of kilometers from Kabul, she suffers intimidation and insults after publishing a video on his X accountwith #LetUsExist, “Let us exist”. “I received non-stop calls on WhatsApp. I had 7,000 messages, if I was in Kabul they would have killed me by now”she says. “I oppose this ideology and it costs me. I need support, I don’t think I have to lose everything just because I oppose it”she concedes.

She filed a complaint at the beginning of September for “repeated threats of rape and death”, “cyberharassment and malicious telephone calls”, franceinfo learned from her lawyer, confirming information from the newspaper The Parisian. The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation. The procedure was entrusted to the National Center for Combating Online Hate (PNLH) of the prosecution, which referred the matter to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes (OCLCH).