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The Full Speech by Tamana Zaryab Paryani at the United Nations Security Council on 27 October 2026 In the name of humanity freedom, justice and equality. My name is Tamana Zaryab Paryani. Some of you may recognize me. I am the woman in the video from 2022 — the one trembling with fear, crying for help from inside a bedroom while Taliban forces surrounded her home in the middle of the night. I am the woman who thought she might not survive that night.   I was with my three sisters when Taliban forces stormed into our home. They came to silence me for my activism for human rights, as they have silenced others. But that night, from my small apartment in Kabul, despite my fear, I chose to document their crimes. That video helped save my life. Had I not had access to the internet, had I not held my phone in my hand, I might not be here today. Others have not been as lucky.   I was imprisoned and tortured by the Taliban. When I was detained, we could hear prisoners being tortured for hours and screams silenced by gunfire. We saw the bodies of dead prisoners left to decay.   These memories will never leave me. They illustrate what the Taliban is willing to do to those who defy them.   My struggle against violence and inequality has come at a great cost. My family has suffered. My friends have suffered. I have suffered. Yet I continue to speak out because remaining silent is not an option.   Especially for women in Afghanistan, speaking out is not easy. It means challenging systems designed to silence you. It means risking your freedom, your safety, and sometimes your life.   Today marks five years and 73 days since women in Afghanistan have lived under a system of gender apartheid. I experienced it personally, including during my imprisonment. Millions of  other women and girls in Afghanistan continue to experience it every single day. Afghanistan is the only country on the planet where girls are systematically denied educationand where women are excluded from nearly every aspect of public life. Women are banned from universities and most jobs.They cannot move freely and are barred from parks, gyms and countless public spaces. They are denied the basic freedoms that many people around the world take for granted.   We have never stopped resisting the Taliban. We organized months of street protests under the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan. In 2023, we went on hunger strike in Germany, demanding that the world recognize the Taliban's gender apartheid as an international crime. We were joined by activists around the globe.   And yet, neither the severity of this crisis nor the urgency of our activism has moved you. The international community has failed us. We hear statements. We hear expressions of concern. But the women of Afghanistan need action, not words. Every day that passes, another generation of women and girls loses opportunities, dreams and futures. This is not only Afghanistan’s crisis. Violations do not stop at borders. They spread when they are tolerated. They grow when they are ignored. That is why what is happening in Afghanistan should concern every person in this room and every nation represented here today. If you are a parent, stand up for the future of your daughters. If you are a brother, stand firm beside your sisters. And if none of these roles define you, then stand up for our common humanity. Because none of us can claim ignorance. None of us can say we did not know. During my imprisonment, I witnessed the true face of misogyny. I saw what happens when violence and discrimination are allowed to become systems of power. And I know this: If the world fails to act in Afghanistan, others will learn they too can get away with such crimes. 👇👇👇 Read more in the comments @tamanaparyaniP