A female journalist and activist was shot and killed in Afghanistan recently. Some suspect the Taliban in an attempt to silence women although no one claimed responsibility. That's why some women are now fighting back.
As a woman, who owns and operates a restaurant in Afghanistan, Laila Haidar will never be confused with a wilting flower. Head-strong, uncompromising and demanding, she's trying to allow the color to flourish in a drab and dangerous nation.
Haidar opened a restaurant years ago with 200 U.S. dollars and a wealth of determination. It's a rarity in Afghanistan which is a place where men and women can mingle together, drink tea and relax.
"It was surprising for people to see a woman establishing a restaurant. But I had to do it. I needed a source of income to start my projects," Haidar said.
Laila Haidar walks the streets of Kabul persuading men to give up drugs and seek treatment at her camp. /CGTN Photo
Haidar's main "project" though, is kilometers away from her restaurant.
Haidar wades into a world where men are addicted to heroin in a nation where the drug is cheap and easily found. She's emerged as a powerful and unlikely human rights hero to get them off drugs and into treatment at her rehabilitation center.
"How difficult was it at first for you as a woman to approach drug users? Did they reject you?" Haidar was asked.
"I think addiction is kind of a treatment sickness and you need to fight against it and that is right," Haidar said. "An addict won't get clear with a single shower but eventually he can be cleaned and saved."
The rehab center Haidar started is where doctors and counselors can help men such as Hussain Dad.
Hussain Dad speaks to CGTN. /CGTN Photo
"To be honest, I was tired of addiction and no friends or relatives to ask for help," said Dad.
They bear the scars of the past but now have a future. Thousands have received help here over the years. Haidar says the uniform and shaved head helps keep them from running away.
Despite a regimen of strict rules and demands, recovering addicts call her "mother." She says about one in five is able to stay off drugs.
"I think the problem lies with me. If I make contact with drug users again once I leave, I think I will get addicted again," said Dad.
Haidar is one of the few women in Afghanistan who drives and often refuses to wear a headscarf.
"I believe human rights are women's rights and I will fight for them," said Haidar.
Known as "mother," Haider runs a female camp for abused women and girls. /CGTN Photo
Haidar also operates a halfway house for women. A safe haven for the abused and girls forced into the sex trade. There is one 16-year-old girl Haidar recently freed, who was sold to drug dealers by her parents to pay off their thousand-dollar heroin debt.
"I see small girls that are being sold. I know girls who have been forced into a lifestyle that would shock you," said Hairdar.
It's something she knows first-hand.
"I was forced into a marriage with a mullah when I was just 12 years old. He was much older than me. I became a mother at 13 and by the age of 18 I had three children."
She summoned the courage to leave her husband and went into hiding. Haidar emerged a different woman in a country still struggling.
Afghanistan is negotiating a power-sharing structure with the Taliban in an effort to foster peace. It's a deal Haidar wants no part of.
At her restaurant, Tajbegum, Haider sits and enjoys music with her customers. Profits from her business go towards helping addicts and abused women. /CGTN Photo
"A new government that includes the Taliban is frightening to me. I think all of our efforts will be wiped out and women will once again be relegated to the house and the kitchen," said Haidar.
Haidar doesn't want to see another generation suffer. So she fights to bring beauty and meaning to Afghanistan, even at her restaurant, where the men working are recovering addicts.
"I find happiness when someone returns to his or her normal life. That is really what makes me wholeheartedly happy," said Haidar.