Women's rights and opportunities have improved in Afghanistan over the past 15 years after the ouster of the Taliban.
They're no longer required to wear the burqa and are again allowed to attend school and leave the house without a male relative.
But as several recent incidents have highlighted, women in the country still face high levels of violence – including honor killings, forced marriages and and imprisonment for fleeing their husbands.
On this edition of Global Journalist, our panel examines the challenges and opportunities for women in Afghanistan. In addition, a bestselling author discusses the longstanding practice of families without sons dressing and raising their daughters as boys, a phenomenon known as "bacha posh."
Joining the program:
- Nadia Hashimi, an Afghan-American author whose books include bestselling the novel "The Pearl That Broke Its Shell."
- Lael Mohib, founder of the Enabled Children's Initiative, an aid group that helps disabled and abandoned children in Afghanistan.
- Noorjahan Akbar, a rights activist who founded the gender and social justice group Free Women Writers.
- Lauryn Oates, an aid worker and women's rights activist who has worked with groups including UNICEF and the Women and Children's Legal Research Foundation on Afghan women's issues.