Published May 27 2022

‘What Happens Next?’: Escape From the Taliban

Susan
Carland
Academic, author and social commentator
Jacqui true
Professor of International Relations; Director, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW)
Sharon pickering
Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University
Parisa sekandari
Graduate student, Monash Faculty of Arts

When the Taliban resumed their brutal control over Afghanistan in August 2021, the world was left reeling.

The future of human rights in the country was bleak – especially for women and girls, who suffered under the oppressive regime of the militant political movement in the ’90s. Afghan women and women’s rights advocates suddenly found themselves in a deadly situation, with two dangerous choices before them –  risk remaining in the country under Taliban rule, or attempt to evacuate and seek refuge far from home.

Read: Fears for Afghan women and their freedoms as the Taliban takes Kabul

Monash University students and staff had a strong relationship with a number of Afghan scholars thanks to an ongoing debate series focused on human rights. When Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul fell, a group from the University moved swiftly to remove these students and their families from danger ,and provide them with a safe place to call home.

On a new episode of What Happens Next?, Monash University’s podcast, you’ll hear the harrowing story from the people involved in this incredible undertaking, including its leaders and organisers, and one of the scholars who fled Afghanistan for Australia.

Today’s guests are Professor Jacqui True, Director of the Monash Gender, Peace and Security Centre; Professor Sharon Pickering, Monash’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Education, and Vice-President; and Parisa Sekandari, one of the evacuees.

“I hope, one day, again we will have what we had. Again, our women can raise their voice. Again we could see women leaders, women political leaders, women in universities, in schools, who have the right to dream. Again, we could see and feel the women in Afghanistan, their voice, their knowledge, their skills. And I’m hoping to see, one day again, that Afghanistan is living again.”

Parisa Sekandari

What Happens Next? will be back next week with part two of this series, “Where Are Women in Peacebuilding?”.

If you’re enjoying the show, don’t forget to subscribe on your favourite podcast app, and rate or review What Happens Next? to help listeners like yourself discover it.

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About the Authors

  • Susan carland

    Director, Bachelor of Global Studies, and Lecturer, School of Language, Literature, Cultures and Linguistics

    Susan's research and teaching specialties focus on gender, sociology, contemporary Australia, terrorism, and Islam in the modern world. Susan hosted the “Assumptions” series on ABC’s Radio National, and was named one of the 20 Most Influential Australian Female Voices in 2012 by The Age.

  • Jacqui true

    Professor of International Relations; Director, Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence against Women (CEVAW)

    Jacqui is Director of Monash University’s Centre for Gender, Peace and Security. She’s an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, and a Global Fellow, Peace Research Institute (PRIO), Oslo. Jacqui's current research is focused on three areas of relevance to the broader women, peace and security agenda: Understanding the political economy of violence against women, including sexual and gender-based violence in conflict in Asia Pacific; examining the gender dimensions and women’s roles in recruitment, support for and prevention of violent extremism and; analysing gender-sensitive peace agreements and their impact on women’s participation after conflict. This research is funded by the Australian Research Council, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the United Nations.

  • Sharon pickering

    Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University

    Sharon is Vice-Chancellor and President, Monash University. She is an internationally recognised expert in criminology, refugees and trafficking who has written extensively on irregular border crossing with a focus on gender and human rights. She is the Founder and Director of the Border Crossing Observatory – an innovative virtual research centre across 12 universities, led by Monash and driven centrally by a collaboration between Monash, Oxford and Oslo universities. Sharon leads a series of Australian Research Council projects focusing on the intersections of security and migration, deportation, and police and community responses to Prejudice Motivated Crimes.

  • Parisa sekandari

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