Rape and death threats for Afghan taekwondo star

Online abuse of Marzieh Hamidi for criticising the Taliban hit new levels after she denounced her country's cricket team

- ARPAN RAI

“Whore”, “Prostitute”, “Slut”. Taekwondo champion Marzieh Hamidi has come to expect this kind of language, waiting to greet her whenever she opens social media, after two years of advocating for the rights of Afghan women and criticising the country’s misogynist Taliban regime.

When she competed at this summer’s Paris Olympics as part of the international refugee team, Hamidi spoke about her dream of winning a medal “for all Afghan women” and of her pain at seeing her country taken over by an Islamist militant group that has imposed restrictions on almost every aspect of women’s lives.

The Taliban published its first detailed set of written laws last week, featuring a legal requirement for women to cover their entire bodies, including faces, when stepping out of the home. Women are also banned from reading, singing, or speaking in public.

Hamidi expected the usual response from Taliban supporters when she criticised these laws in a media interview. What she did not foresee was the new torrent of abuse she received for suggesting that the country’s successful men’s cricket team should do more to condemn the abuse of women in Afghanistan, after captain Rashid Khan was pictured meeting with members of the powerful Taliban-linked Haqqani family.