Latifa was born into an educated middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in
1980. She dreamed of one day of becoming a journalist, she was
interested in fashion, movies and friends. Her father was in the
import/export business and her mother was a doctor.
Then in September 1996, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul. From
that moment, Latifa, just 16 years old became a prisoner in her own
home. Her school was closed. Her mother was banned from working. The
simplest and most basic freedoms - walking down the street, looking out
a window - were no longer hers. She was now forced to wear a chadri.
My Forbidden Face provides a poignant and highly personal account of
life under the Taliban regime. With painful honesty and clarity Latifa
describes the way she watched her world falling apart, in the name of a
fanatical interpretation of a faith that she could not comprehend. Her
voice captures a lost innocence, but also echoes her determination to
live in freedom and hope.
Earlier this year, Latifa and her parents escaped Afghanistan with the
help of a French-based Afghan resistance group.
