Her Voice Was a Threat: The Story of Fareeda Afridi’s Courage and Sacrifice

Fareeda “Kokikhel” Afridi was a Pakistani Pashtun feminist and women’s rights activist. She was born and raised in the Khyber tribal area part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), an impoverished semi-autonomous region in Pakistan’s northwest, bordering Afghanistan. This region wasand remains one of the most dangerous and conservative areas in Pakistan, where conflict and insecurity are everyday realities and women are routinely denied education and participation in community decisions. Fareeda grew up in a large family with three sisters and two brothers. From an early age, she and her sisters faced significant pressure and criticism even from their own family about pursuing careers in human rights work. “We told our parents that we would work in accordance with our religious and cultural traditions, assuring them that we would never let the family honor suffer because of our line of work. Finally, they agreed,” her sister Noorzia Afridi later recalled.

Education and Founding SAWERA

Fareeda pursued higher education with remarkable determination. She graduated from the Allama Iqbal Open University with a Master’s degree in Gender Studies . While still in school, she and her sister Noor Zia Afridi founded the Society for Appraisal and Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA) in 2004, a women-run NGO promoting women’s empowerment in FATA. SAWERA was established to address the dire conditions facing women in Pakistan’s tribal belt. The region faced staggering challenges: Pakistan has the second-highest number of children out of school globally, with two-thirds (approximately 3 million) being girls. In FATA specifically, a staggering 92% of women and girls are illiterate, and fewer than one in ten females over the age of 10 can read and write compared with over 20% of males in the province and 40% of the nation. In 2009, the Taliban in Pakistan barred girls from attending school, an edict enforced with indiscriminate brutality.

SAWERA’s Work: Empowerment in the Tribal Belt

Under Fareeda’s leadership as Chief Executive and Director, SAWERA became a fierce defender of women’s rights in one of the most hostile environments imaginable. The organization’s work encompassed:

• Education and Literacy: SAWERA focused on promoting women’s and children’s rights and education in the tribal belt. Fareeda gave lectures and provided information on women’s rights, directly challenging the ignorance and oppression that kept women subjugated.
• Economic Empowerment: Since its foundation in 2004, 30 community-based women’s organizations have benefited from SAWERA’s ‘Leading Management Skills’ and ‘Community Management Skills’ training, empowering them in local business ventures. Even women living in the most acute poverty were given grants to pay off debts and start businesses, equipping them with a chance to create brighter futures for themselves and their families.
• Maternal Healthcare: SAWERA distributed health and hygiene kits to over 6,000 women in the area, which owing to its remoteness has sparse medical facilities.
• Community Forums: SAWERA helped found the Takrah Qabayali Khwende (TQK) a forum engaging individuals, civil society networks, unions, academics, professionals, and business people to collectively achieve women’s empowerment.

The organization was based in Hayatabad, a suburb of Peshawar near the border of Afghanistan, and was also active in flood emergency relief in District Charsadda.

A Defiant Voice: Criticizing Government, Taliban and Patriarchy

Throughout her work, Fareeda remained defiant and outspoken. She was critical of the Pakistani government, the Taliban, and the patriarchal nature of Pakistani society, which she saw as one of the main obstacles to women’s empowerment. Her willingness to name and challenge all sources of oppression state, religious extremist, and cultural made her a target.

She worked in what activists describe as a “human-rights-free and democracy-free zone” . The area of northwest Pakistan where she operated does not come under the jurisdiction of the federal government or its constitution, meaning there are no Pakistani police. As Zar Ali Khan, head of a consortium of activist groups in Peshawar, stated, “No human rights is here, no constitutional rights is here, no democratic rights is here.”

Warnings and Threats

Fareeda was acutely aware of the dangers she faced. In June 2012 just one month before her death she told journalists she was being threatened. She had been forced to change her mobile number due to persistent threats. According to Zar Ali Khan, there were at least a dozen warnings before the attack . The threats came from those who opposed her message of women’s empowerment. “They had warned her not to go and work for the empowerment of women, for the rights of women,” Khan explained. Despite the danger, Fareeda continued her work. In an interview, she had prophetically stated, “I could even be killed in Peshawar”. Her friends and colleagues suspected the threats originated with FATA Taliban militants.

On July 4, 2012 as she typically did 25-year-old Fareeda Afridi left her parents’ home early in the morning to walk to her nonprofit organization’s office in Hayatabad, a suburb of Peshawar. At approximately 6 a.m., she was intercepted by two motorcyclists. The men pulled out guns and opened fire. Witnesses said they saw two motorcyclists following Kokikhel before they opened fire and sped away. Fareeda was shot once in the head and twice in the neck. Some reports state she was hit five times in the head and chest areas. She was taken to the hospital but died of her wounds shortly after the attack. No one claimed responsibility for the killing. No one has been arrested, and in all likelihood, no one will be. When Zar Ali Khan sat in mourning with Fareeda’s father, he asked who he thought had carried out the killing. The father replied: “You know and I know well. Our enemies are around us.” Members of Afridi’s family and their larger tribe believe militants with links to both al-Qaida and the Pakistani Taliban were responsible. Fareeda was the second female in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be targeted by Taliban extremists.

Outcry and Condemnation

Fareeda’s murder sent shockwaves through Pakistan and the international community. At a protest camp organized by the Aurat Foundation along with Peshawar Press Club and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain stated:

“Imposing death decrees on individuals such as Farida has resulted in a negative portrayal of our country as well as Islam itself.”

The killing was widely condemned by human rights organizations, women’s groups, and media outlets. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned the killing, as did various alliances calling for timely justice and protection for human rights activists.

Chris Crowstaff, founder of Safe World for Women, expressed the heartbreak of the international community: “Safeworld staff are heartbroken to receive news of the murder of Farida Afridi. Farida, together with her sister, Noorzia Afridi, co-founded SAWERA. At a young age, the sisters chose to devote their lives to promoting women’s empowerment and peace in the tribal regions of Pakistan”.

Noorzia’s Defiance: Continuing the Mission

Fareeda’s assassination did not silence SAWERA. Her younger sister Noorzia Afridi, who had worked alongside her at the organization, also received threats delivered via text messages on her cellphone. Others in the community urged her to quit, telling her to “sit at home and don’t do these activities or this job.” Noorzia’s response was unequivocal: “I will never leave this job because it’s the mission of my sister and [God willing] I will complete it”. Her defiance exemplified the resilience that Fareeda’s work had inspired. In 2013, SAWERA’s offices were bombed, causing extensive damage to the infrastructure and the organization’s technical equipment. Staff continued to receive threatening telephone calls demanding they cease their work. Despite the risks, they continued to work on issues pertaining to women’s rights in one of the most traditional and culturally sensitive regions in Pakistan.

Front Line Defenders Award and International Recognition

In 2014, SAWERA was honored with the Front-Line Defenders Award recognizing the courage of human rights defenders working at extreme risk. The award highlighted that in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), and FATA, security agencies, religious groups, militants, and armed gangs all target human rights defenders. Women human rights defenders from KP and FATA often received threats by their own family members, who exerted pressure on them to quit human rights work.

The Farida Afridi Educational Scholarship

In remembrance of Fareeda’s courage and commitment, W4 (Women’s WorldWide Web) and SAWERA launched an educational scholarship program in her name . The scholarship provides girls and young women with educational opportunities, paying tribute to Fareeda’s dedicated work to “respectfully challenge local patriarchal traditions in order to enable women and girls and, thereby, entire communities to reach their fullest potential.”

The program recognizes that by funding girls’ and women’s education in the tribal areas, donors help women emerge as role models and agents of change in their communities, fulfilling Fareeda’s mission to spark community-led social and economic development and peaceful dialogue in the region. As W4 stated, “Farida was callously robbed of her future, but her dedication to positive change will be exemplified by the success of every girl and woman who benefits from the educational opportunities that Farida devoted her life to fostering.”

Legacy: A Trail-Blazer Silenced Too Soon

Fareeda Afridi’s life, though cut short at just 25 years old, embodied extraordinary courage. She was a trail-blazer who bravely promoted social and economic development and peace through the protection, education, and empowerment of local women and children in one of the world’s most dangerous regions for women’s rights activists. Her assassination highlighted the deadly cost of women’s rights work in northwest Pakistan. As Dr. Farzana Bari, a professor of gender studies at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, explained, the work was about “women having fundamental access to resource… education, good health, ability to work, economically independent, and make choices for themselves, you know, for their own lives”. Despite the grief, Dr. Bari noted that “sometimes this kind of grief and… loss makes you an even… stronger person.” Fareeda’s legacy lives on through SAWERA’s continued work, the scholarship program bearing her name, and the countless women who have been empowered by the organization she co-founded. Her story remains a powerful testament to the courage required and the price sometimes paid to advance women’s rights in the most challenging contexts.