Sheryl Sandberg, Charlize Theron and Diane von Furstenburg among dozens who signed open letter
Dozens of women’s rights advocates and high-profile figures, including the poet Amanda Gorman, are calling on the Biden administration to protect and support Afghan women and girls.
In an open letter titled “Do Not Abandon Afghan Women and Girls”, Gorman, alongside the Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, actors Charlize Theron and Kate Winslet, and others urged the administration to honor its commitment.
“Immediate action must be taken to safeguard Afghan women most at risk: women’s rights activists, journalists, educators, civil society leaders, human rights defenders and direct service providers. The very women who have been on the frontlines for decades, risking their safety to realize the promise of equal rights, are being abandoned by those who pledged to protect them,” it said.
The letter, organized by Vital Voices and Women International, demands the administration take four concrete steps: provide direct evacuation flights for women who are under imminent threat, expand special immigrant visas to include a category for at-risk women and raise the refugee cap, allocate resources for livelihood assistance and resettlement, and protect and invest in women who remain in Afghanistan.
Vital Voices, an NGO that works with female leaders on economic empowerment, women’s political participation and human rights, previously funded Gorman as a young activist.
The 2017 national youth poet laureate has been an outspoken champion of social justice causes, including women’s rights.
“As Afghanistan suffers, America has to take a long look at how we’ve perpetuated horror & how we can provide healing. We must welcome refugees & at last become the country we say we are,” Gorman tweeted on Tuesday. “Today is the day to take in the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
During the Taliban’s reign from 1996 to 2001, the group barred women from schools and most work, forced them to wear the burqa when they left home, and controlled their shoes and makeup. ...