Images and news of Kubra Khademi’s protest in Kabul, Afghanistan have been spreading online. She explained in an interview for this article why she chose to walk through the streets wearing metal armor:
“She first experienced street harassment when she was only four or five; a man touched her backside and she couldn’t say or do anything about it. At that young age, she wished she had an armored shirt so she couldn’t feel the touch of the man. As she grew older, she realized there was another body part of her that caught the attention of men: her bosoms. She says she experienced more street harassment on the streets of Kabul as she grew older. Her experience with street harassment motivated her to make the armored costume, adding that ‘I want people to remember my work, and they will remember my work…I wanted people to start talking about street harassment,’ and she succeeded in that.'”
Today I found out that a lot was happening that we didn’t see in the photos. Men were harassing her, insulting her, throwing rocks at her, and groping the female friends who came to support her. She planned to walk for 10 minutes but after just 8 ran into a taxi to escape the harassment. And even then, men hit the taxi with their hands. That wasn’t the end of it: “After her performance, angry men showed up at her door. Since then, the young artist has been forced into hiding at friends’ homes in the suburbs of Kabul.”
It takes a lot of courage to speak out in the face of that level of backlash and hate. I applaud her efforts, hope she can feel safe soon, and that her bravery will ultimately contribute to a cultural shift in how women and girls are treated in public spaces.
