Could Trump’s America go the same way? In just two years Afghan women have lost almost all their rights. Some fear the United States could be on the same path.
Taliban bans sound of a woman’s voice
Handmaid's Tale?: In Margaret Atwood's novel, Gilead is a nation where women's bodies are policed and hidden by uniforms according to their relationship to men: the aunts, wifes, handmaids, Marthas and "unwomen". Glossary
Haggling - Discussing and trying to agree on the price of something.
Afghanistan - A mountainous Asian country, slightly larger than France, whose neighbours include Pakistan, Iran and China.
Taliban - A violent fundamentalist Islamic movement that enforces sharia law and denies education to women.
Margaret Atwood - Canadian novelist whose best-known book is The Handmaid's Tale.
Extremists - People who hold extreme political or religious views, especially ones who choose violence or other extreme action.
Reproductive rights - The right of a woman to decide whether to reproduce, including the right to an abortion. The latter, although legally mandated across the US since 1973, has been increasingly difficult to access in several areas.
Abortion - The deliberate ending of a pregnancy.
Tajiks - A Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group. Most Tajiks live in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Liberal - Liberalism is a school of political thought that stresses individual liberty. Liberals believe that society should not try to impose values or behaviours on individuals but should be tolerant of different lifestyles. A leading exponent of liberal thought was the 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill, the author of the classic work On Liberty.
Urban - Related to cities.
Rural - Relating to the countryside rather than the town.
Donald Trump - An American politician, media personality, and businessman serving as the 47th president of the United States since January 2025. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021.
Reduce - Lower.