Join us for the second annual Wollstonecraft Society Lecture which will be delivered by Helena Kennedy QC.

The fall of Kabul last summer was a minute-by-minute tragedy, as the Taliban swept to power and many Afghans desperately tried to escape. Among the most vulnerable were women lawyers who had formerly stood up to the Taliban, and as the ‘death lists’ began to circulate, these women had the most to lose. But as we witnessed the rolling back of human rights, the events of last August also summoned acts of immense courage and selflessness. In the spirt of Mary Wollstonecraft, Baroness Kennedy shares the extraordinary stories behind the evacuation of Afghan women judges following the fall of Kabul, and her own connection to their escape. This exchange will examine the hopes for women's rights internationally, set the story we all watched on the news into the framework of international justice, and consider those who are left behind.

Meet our speakers and chair

Helena Kennedy is one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers. She has spent her professional life giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil liberties and promoting human rights. She has used many public platforms – including the House of Lords, to which she was elevated in 1997 – to argue for social justice. She has also written and broadcast on a wide range of issues, from medical negligence to terrorism to the rights of women and children.

Fawzia Amini worked as a senior judge in Afghanistan's Supreme Court, heading a court that specifically dealt with women's cases until the Taliban took control on August 15, 2021. Fawzia previously served as head of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and worked closely with the Ministry of Justice, where she reviewed laws from a gender perspective and thereby ensured that women's rights were protected. Today, Fawzia is one of the women fighting for a new Afghanistan.

Bee Rowlatt (@BeeRowlatt) is a writer and public speaker, and a programmer of events at the British Library. Her most recent book In Search of Mary retraced Wollstonecraft’s 1795 treasure hunt over the Skagerrak sea. She led the campaign for the Wollstonecraft memorial sculpture and is chair of the Wollstonecraft Society.

Alpa Shah (@alpashah001) is Professor of Anthropology at LSE and convenes the research theme on ‘Global Economies of Care’ at the LSE International Inequalities Institute. Her most recent book is the award-winning Nightmarch: Among India’s Revolutionary Guerrillas.

More about this event

The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many of the School's departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

The Wollstonecraft Society (@TheWollSoc) is a registered charity carrying Mary Wollstonecraft’s legacy of human rights, equality and justice into young people’s lives. It delivers learning materials and experiences, inspired by Wollstonecraft’s work, for young people who might not have heard of her. The annual WS lecture features an outstanding speaker on themes related to her work, and each year it awards a state-educated student the Wollstonecraft Prize for Political Engagement.

This event will have a live captioner and a BSL interpreter.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEInequalities

Featured image (used in source code with watermark added): Photo by Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

Podcast, Video and Transcript

A podcast of this event is available to download from Evacuating Women Judges in Afghanistan: a tale of international feminist solidarity.

A video of this event is available to watch at Evacuating Women Judges in Afghanistan: a tale of international feminist solidarity.

A transcript of the speech from Fawzia Amini is available to download here: Transcript by Fawzia Amini - Evacuating Women Judges in Afghanistan: a tale of international feminist solidarity (PDF).

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.