Members of the Kabul Critical Thinking Movement conceal their identities to minimise the risk of being identified and facing reprisals from the Taliban. Credit: Learning Together.

By External Source
PARWAN, Afghanistan, Oct 20 2026 (IPS)

Afghan women have resorted to online protests as their only available recourse, even though the risks of being caught are high and carry enormous consequences.

Dawn has not yet fully broken over the quiet streets of Parwan. The morning air carries the stillness of the early hours, and the footsteps of a few passersby are the only sounds that break the silence.

In one of the town’s more modest homes lives 28-year-old Gulsuum (name changed), who is effectively living two lives.

To her neighbors, she is a quiet young woman who goes out to buy food, lives with her family, and tries to lead an ordinary life. Yet behind this facade is a person fighting, under a pseudonym, for the education, freedom, and human dignity of Afghan women.

"Sometimes I wonder if we will ever see the results of our efforts, if this path is worth all the fear and uncertainty. But whenever I think of the girls who have been denied the right to go to school, I know I must go on. If we stay silent today, the next generation might lose even the hope of protesting"

She uses the name Gulsuum to protect her identity. Her fears, hopes, and life story, however, are entirely real.

Gulsuum lives with her father, mother, aunt, and two brothers in a residential area of ​​Parwan province. Her unmarried aunt has long been an integral part of the family.

Only her aunt knows Gulsuum’s secret

Her aunt has not only kept Gulsuum’s secret but has also supported her during her most difficult moments. She lets Gulsuum use her mobile phone when needed, keeps an eye on the situation, and warns her immediately if she senses danger.

Gulsuum’s biggest worry is her older brother. The reason lies in his traditional views: he considers women’s protests dangerous. Gulsuum is certain that if her brother found out about her activities, he would take away her phone, restrict her movements, or send her to live with relatives in another province.

Before the Taliban returned to power, Gulsuum studied law and taught at a private school. Back then, her life revolved around books, pens, and the voices of her students.

“My entire life was bound up with books, writing, and the classroom. I believed that Afghanistan’s future would be built by girls who could transform society through knowledge and education, not weapons.”

After the Taliban returned to power, universities and girls’ schools across Afghanistan were shut down one by one. The private school where Gulsuum taught ceased operations, and her own studies came to an end as well.

Gulsuum’s gaze drifts to the corner of the room, where her university books still sit on the shelf.

“My books are still there, but there is no longer a classroom, no students, and no dream I can pursue the way I used to.”

Gulsuum says she remained silent during the first few months, fearing arrest and that her family would be put in danger.

“But whenever I heard about the arrests of female protesters or girls being denied an education, I asked myself: Is silence, too, a form of surrender?”

That question changed the course of her life.

“Two years ago, a university friend introduced me to the Kabul Critical Thinking Movement. At first, I only followed the movement’s statements and writings. Gradually, I began participating in its online meetings under a pseudonym, and later, I became one of its active members.”

Most of the movement’s activities take place on its official Facebook page, where statements, campaigns, and public messages are published.

Even a small mistake could endanger everything

To protect their identities, members never share material on their own social media accounts. Instead, they record images and videos independently and submit them for publication via the movement’s official page. Pseudonyms are used to protect the identities of those involved.

Many images and videos are recorded indoors or in locations with few or no other people present. Members wear face masks, sunglasses, and black chadari robes to minimize the risk of being identified.

Gulsuum explains that every action requires careful planning and an assessment of potential risks, as even a single protest could lead to consequences for both her and her family.

“Every decision I make, every phone call, and every message I send could have serious consequences. My phone is protected by multiple passwords. I carefully manage messages, photos, and anything else that could put me in danger. I never reveal the identities of other members or where we meet to anyone. Even a small mistake could endanger my life and the lives of my family members.”

Gulsuum says she sometimes wonders whether her brothers, who browse through her phone, have found out about her activities.

“A moment later, I realize nothing has happened. They were just scrolling through social media. But those few minutes feel like hours to me. Fear has become a part of my everyday life.”

Once, while walking through the city, she noticed a Taliban pickup truck a few blocks behind her. She told a passing woman she was thirsty and was invited into her home for tea. The vehicle was still nearby when she left, but she was relieved to learn that Taliban members had rented a house in the neighborhood a few days earlier. The truck had nothing to do with her.

“I could breathe again, and I realized that sometimes fear paralyzes us long before any danger is even in sight. Every unknown call, every suspicious glance, and every unexpected question brings a new wave of fear. But I don’t think fear should define the lives of Afghan women.”

Despite fear, activism continues

Despite her fears, Gulsuum has not given up her activism.

“Sometimes I wonder if we will ever see the results of our efforts, if this path is worth all the fear and uncertainty. But whenever I think of the girls who have been denied the right to go to school, I know I must go on. If we stay silent today, the next generation might lose even the hope of protesting.”

The chadari robe she wears at demonstrations is more than just a garment.

“Every evening, I tuck it away in the corner of my room. Whenever I hide it, it feels as though I am concealing a part of my identity, my dreams, and my true life from the eyes of others.”

Gulsuum’s voice is calm, devoid of hesitation.

“I believe that no voice raised for justice goes to waste. Change may not happen today. But if no one speaks, there is no hope for tomorrow.”

“What matters most to me is that the world knows Afghan women, even under the most intense pressure, continue to stand up for freedom, justice, and human dignity. Our voice may be quiet, but it will never be silenced.”

Gulsuum’s story is not that of just one woman. It reflects the lives of thousands of Afghan women and girls, caught between fear and hope, continue the fight for education, freedom of choice, and human dignity.

Beneath the black chadar worn for safety, her voice still rings out. It is quiet, yet unwavering. Despite everything, that voice has not been silenced.

Excerpt:

The chance to make an impact seems just a few mouse clicks away. Credit: Dorian V./cc by 2.0

By Britta Schmitz
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 20 2015 (IPS)

In recent years, online activism platforms have multiplied to the degree that they are starting to have a significant real world impact in areas like environmental protection, human rights and public policy.

The most important decision-making instrument of these platforms is the online petition. In the age of social media, the chance to make an impact seems just a few clicks away.“There are many metrics for success. Victory is the most obvious of metrics, but not all campaigns win and that does not necessarily mean that they are failures." -- Michael Allen Jones of Change.org

One can easily sign existing petitions or launch his or her own petition in an instant. Organisations such as 38 Degrees, Avaaz, Causes, Care2 Petitions, Change.org, ipetitions or MoveOn, just to name a few, have spread across the world and provide the option to start a free petition. Even the White House has launched an official online petition initiative called We The People.

Two big platforms that primarily provide the service of online petitions are Avaaz and Change.org, both eight years old.

“Democratic accountability is hardwired into our model. While the Avaaz team and supporters suggest campaigns, each campaign is polled and tested with a randomized sample of the Avaaz community,” Aften Meltzer, a spokesperson for Avaaz, told IPS.

Transparent monitoring of a campaign’s impact on social change might be the key to gaining more influence and going beyond primarily raising awareness, she said.

Avaaz is a democratic network of over 41 million members which was founded in New York. It has become a global movement within just a few years. Eighteen national teams on six continents launch campaigns all over the world by mobilising individuals to participate in decision-making processes on a local, national or global level.

According to their website, more than 253 million actions have been taken via Avaaz since its launch in 2007. Avaaz solely depends on individual online contributions up to 5,000 dollars.

Change.org is a similar online initiative with over 113 million participants and more than 13,000 successful petitions in 196 countries. It works in the same way by giving people the chance to make a contribution by participating in online petitions. Change.org is a social enterprise and certified B Corporation.

“Our mission is to empower people everywhere to create the change they want to see, and we believe the best way to achieve that mission is by combining the vision of a non-profit with the flexibility and innovation of a tech startup,” said Michael Allen Jones, Deputy Managing Director for North America at Change.org.

Some measurable successes

Global online networks attract a lot of international attention. Avaaz has collected online signatures and sent personal messages to Ministers of the European Commission, asking for a European Agenda on Migration.

“450,000 EU members called for urgent action, and the petition was delivered to key EU decision maker,” said Meltzer. “Our members’ voices were heard, and the EU struck a deal to boost its search and rescue budget and offer sanctuary to over 50,000 refugees.”

A one million strong petition organised by Avaaz had an impact on clothing company Benetton’s decision to reimburse the victims of the severe accident in Bangladesh’s garment factory house Rana Plaza in 2013.

Benetton decided to contribute 1.1 million dollars to the Rana Plaza Trust Fund. Besides the online petition, Avaaz put up billboards outside Benetton’s headquarters, initiated various negotiations with the CEO and company executives, and launched awareness campaigns in social media networks.

Change.org also provides information on its online petition highlights: for example, the video game company EA sports will finally include women players in their soccer games starting from September 2016. The online petition which led to this success was initiated three years ago by 13-year-old soccer fan Rebekah Araujo.

Another successful petition is the one conducted on behalf of Jeff Mizanskey, who had spent 20 years in prison. Mizanskey was the only man in Missouri serving a life-sentence without parole for non-violent marijuana offenses. As a result of collecting almost 400,000 signatures for an online petition initiated by Mizanskey’s son, he was granted clemency by Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on May 28 this year.

Raising awareness vs. lack of transparency

Given the fact that the signing of online petitions is the most important instrument of these organisations, their networks seem quite loose. All around the world, people who are normally not interconnected can make a one-time contribution and organisations like Avaaz or Change.org have little influence on whether contributors will engage in further campaigns or not. Participants might not necessarily want to learn more about the cause of a petition.

“The network here isn’t as loose as it may seem,” Jones told IPS. “They [the signers] join forces with a petition starter and want to be kept in the loop about a campaign’s narrative and progress.

“Sure, the numbers might be big, but we’ve found that petition signers actually crave updates on petitions – they want to see news articles written about the campaign, see photos from a petition delivery that a starter might do, or hear about whether a campaign wins or makes progress. That’s a level of engagement that goes far beyond just signing a petition, and really makes signers part of the story in a petition’s life cycle.”

The impact of online petitions cannot always reliably be monitored. Other groups or individuals work on social issues as well, so it is hard to say who is responsible for a change.

Jones of Change.Org told IPS: “There are many metrics for success. Victory is the most obvious of metrics, but not all campaigns win and that does not necessarily mean that they are failures. Campaigns have the power to influence a narrative on an issue, introduce new thought and emotion into a debate, and of course raise the volume on issues important to marginalised communities.”

When anyone can start a campaign and mobilise a vast number of participants, the rising number of online petitions might lead to a decline in their value. The White House already had to raise the threshold for petitions via We The People from 5,000 to 100,000 signatures, as the platform was flooded with petitions.

Nevertheless, when looking at the outcome of online petitions, they are a perfect example of the strength of weak ties. People can easily and collectively interact on the same social causes. Online petitions raise awareness. They enable immediate action, as they spread through social media. Online campaigns can be started anytime, anywhere and by anyone who has access to the internet.

With their polished web appearances, these organisations continuously expand their communities, especially attracting young web-savvy individuals who want to make a difference in some way.

Besides online petitions, some platforms also conduct on-the-ground campaigns. As long as they continue offering the option to participate in such initiatives and deliver reliable monitoring when it comes to the impact, they have the chance of transforming political decision-making processes in the long-term.

Of course, the end goal is that activism goes beyond the realms of the internet, and mobilises people to get involved in their communities and beyond. Effective and transparent monitoring that shows the impact of an online petition could attract more citizens and transform the online petition into an established instrument of modern democracy.

Edited by Kitty Stapp