Underground Girls of Kabul. The Story of Afghan Girls Who Live in Male Disguise.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JENNY NORDBERG — a Swedish journalist living in New York, a recipient of numerous awards. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles for the New York Times. Awarded the Robert Kennedy Prize for a television documentary about Afghan women. ABOUT THE BOOK: Afghanistan — the worst and most dangerous place in the world for women. Afghan women have virtually no rights, they do not own their own bodies, and their only value is their ability to give birth to sons. Giving birth to a daughter means subjecting oneself to constant humiliation from relatives. Those who cannot bear a son — cornered, defenseless, and desperate women, resort to forced provocation. They pass off their daughters as boys — dressing and raising them as future men. Until they reach sexual maturity, this is the only time in the girls' lives when they can feel free... Almost everyone in Afghanistan knows about such false sons, but they turn a blind eye to it. After all, a stand-in son is better than none at all... REVIEWS In an Afghan family, there must be a son. At all costs. — BBC In this book — the stories of real Afghan women and the ruthless truth about traditions so cruel that they seem unbelievable. — Andrey Serchenko, leading expert at the Center for the Study of Contemporary Afghanistan CISA 3rd edition