Situation:

The Taliban regime controls Afghanistan’s narrative via social media, promoting a misogynistic and oppressive discourse.

A group of Afghan women challenged the regime standing up for their rights, leading the conversation on social media.

Through digital surveillance, the regime identified them, punishing and imprisoning them, silencing the conversation on digital platforms.

Brief:

Create a digital action to ensure that the voices of Afghan women fighting for their rights are heard once again.

Objective:

Regain leadership in the social media conversation for the rights of Afghan women.

Since the Taliban regime banned Afghan women from any form of expression to fight for their rights, we created a protest that the regime cannot ban.

Letting people from all over the world that felt powerless in the face of this situation, join this fight and protest in Afghanistan, without actually being in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, women were directly impacted by the Taliban regime, punished, and silenced.

Women worldwide felt powerless, unable to intervene in this situation.

Our platform, THE UNBANNABLE PROTEST, we reached women all over the globe, giving them the chance to virtually protest in Afghanistan through a VPN connected to local servers, bringing back the voices of Afghan women.

Women's rights organizations and opinion leaders joined forces, increasing the conversation and even raising funds for THE UNBANNABLE PROTEST.

The situation of women in Afghanistan evokes a sense of powerlessness in women worldwide. That's why we enabled women from different countries to join this fight by protesting in Afghanistan without physically being there.

Using VPN technology, we were able to regain and amplify the conversation in Afghanistan, continuing to advocate for the rights of Afghan women, giving them back a voice that cannot be silenced by the regime this time.

Implementation:

We created a platform which connects to a VPN through local servers in Afghanistan.

Through a website and an APP the whole world can protest in Afghanistan, without actually being in Afghanistan.

Timeline:

THE UNBANNABLE PROTEST launched the 1st quarter of 2024.

Placement:

Website, APP and collaboration with social media users.

Scale:

The movement aimed to reach a worldwide participation from social media users, influencers and women’s rights organizations.

300% conversation growth.

Women from around the world made #WhereAreTheirRights the most popular topic in Afghanistan, surpassing the ones promoted by the regime.

Women right’s organizations raised more than USD$243,000 for THE UNBANNABLE PROTEST to reach other countries.

After more than 2 years, this movement, along with other efforts, has brought back the voices of Afghan women to the UN.