#WhereIsMyName is the social media campaign that introduced Laleh Osmany to the world. Her efforts towards women’s rights in Afghanistan earned her a place among the BBC’s 100 Women list in 2020. From Herat to Berlin and beyond, she raises the voice of Afghan women struggling for their basic rights. “We no longer have a message for the world because we have seen that the world has closed both its eyes and its ears to Afghan women. The feminist struggle of Afghan women is not only for the benefit of Afghan women. This is a fight against terrorism, which is a global threat.”

Laleh’s decision to leave her home country of Afghanistan was not an easy one. She didn’t want to leave and had hoped to restart her life there soon “but unfortunately, it was just a wishful thinking,” Laleh says.  “The events that unfolded in Afghanistan were a tragic turn of events. Over 20 years, we worked tirelessly to improve various sectors, particularly with regard to women’s participation and their rights. This progress came at a great cost, and we lost many loved ones in the fight for fundamental rights. In a matter of days, we lost everything we had worked for and were forced to return to point zero.”

Laleh was warmly welcomed when she came to Germany. Her activities have already been covered by the German media. She found peace, “the peace we did not chase completely in Afghanistan,” she says. Nevertheless, starting life again is not an ideal situation for Laleh. “We are still struggling for personal life, and, at the same time, to put more advocacy efforts towards the most fundamental rights of women in Afghanistan as they do not experience these currently.” The continuous efforts of human rights activists for Afghanistan satisfy Laleh to some extent. “Most of the human rights defenders who are now out of the country [Afghanistan] continue their struggles for women’s rights against the Taliban but we need more and more efforts at this time.” She appreciates support the human rights defenders receive in their host countries. “They are heard, and they are seen as women,” Laleh adds. Currently, the 32-year-old activist has been studying and working in Berlin for two and a half years.

A supportive network helps Laleh to continue her advocacy for the women and girls in Afghanistan. “I represented the women of Afghanistan in different panels and programmes.” Last year, she was awarded as gender equality champion by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “I think the people of Germany are with us and recognize gender apartheid in Afghanistan and the importance of gender equality,” she says. According to Laleh, it takes some time for new arrivals to integrate socially in Germany. “Some subjects may not be digestible for us, but we gradually get used to it and integrate ourselves,” she says.

Laleh lives with all the details of Afghanistan in her memory. “I remember the sound of Azaan, the music, the singing of birds, the smell of foods, the smell of home, and the smell of straw after rain.” When a friend of hers was coming to Germany and asked Laleh if she could bring something from Afghanistan, Laleh answered “bring me the soil of my homeland. It is now with me with the hope to visit it one day. This soil motivates me to wake up every day and fight harder.”

Laleh is proud of the courage and perseverance of Afghan women. “I am proud of the women of Afghanistan. The women who today fight against terrorism with empty hands. The women who were left to fight for their own rights. The world left them behind. But they did not leave themselves behind.” Nevertheless, she is concerned about the women and girls’ status in Afghanistan. She says: “they face daily sacrifices and brutal treatment, including torture in prisons, shootings in the streets, and whippings and stonings in the deserts. . .. We wish for an Afghanistan where we can live proudly, an Afghanistan where being a woman is not a crime anymore. Women are not marginalized; they are free in their social life. We struggle for a country where women can live as human beings without discrimination based on their gender.”