ZAHRA JOYA
ZAHRA JOYA WAS 5 YEARS OLD WHEN THE Taliban took power in Afghanistan and banned girls’ education. Undeterred, she dressed in boys’ clothing and walked two hours to and from school every day. After the U.S. invasion in 2001, she dropped her disguise, finished her schooling, and enrolled as a law student, before discovering her calling as a journalist.
Afghanistan has long been an extremely dangerous place to be a female journalist. According to Reporters Without Borders, 80% of women journalists have lost their jobs since the collapse of the Afghan government in August. Joya, who founded Rukhshana Media in 2020 with a focus on stories by and about Afghan women, was among those forced to flee the country. She was airlifted to
