About this episode

Zahra Yagana shares her harrowing story of survival and advocacy for Afghan women after escaping an abusive marriage and becoming a refugee.

This week on The Vault Expert, Zahra Yagana is the expert. Zahra is an author, public speaker, and human rights advocate who has lived through abuse, displacement, and the loss of the life she worked so hard to build. During our conversation, Zahra shared her experience of living with an abusive husband and finding the courage to escape with her children. Determined to protect them, she created a safe and independent life for her family in Afghanistan. Then Afghanistan fell in 2021, and everything changed again. Zahra and her children were forced to leave their home and begin a new life as refugees. Today, she is fulfilling her dream of becoming a public speaker and using her voice to advocate for Afghan women and girls who are no longer free to use their own. Women in Afghanistan have been denied education, employment, freedom of movement, and the ability to participate openly in public life. Many cannot leave their homes without a male relative, and even speaking publicly can place them in danger. Zahra refuses to let their stories disappear. In this deeply personal conversation, we discuss domestic violence, motherhood, escape, the fall of Afghanistan, life as a refugee…

People in this episode

Guest: Zahra Yagana

Topics covered

• domestic violence
• refugee experience
• women's rights
• advocacy
• personal survival
• motherhood
• rebuilding life

Keywords

• Zahra Yagana
• domestic violence
• refugees
• Afghanistan
• women's rights
• public speaking
• human rights

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: ZAN: The Woman They Tried to Silence

Places: Afghanistan

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