Center for Investigative Reporting

With news of the assassination of the second female minister in Afghanistan this week, we look at the oppression and intimidation of Afghan women and the implications for their security as the U.S. withdraws its troops.

We went inside women’s prisons in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif to provide a rare glimpse of a shocking aspect of Afghan society little known to the outside world. The majority of Afghan women in prison have committed no other crime than being in love with the wrong man — or running away from abusive husbands who were selected by their fathers.