Violence against women is endemic in Afghanistan; with services closed by the pandemic, those working with abused women are terrified for their clients

Every morning Marzia Akbari, a 25-year-old psychologist from the western Afghan city of Herat, wakes up, picks up her phone and starts calling women. Most calls go unanswered. Since Herat was put in lockdown two weeks ago, Akbari’s work as one of Afghanistan’s only healthcare workers helping victims of domestic abuse has ground to a halt and many of the women she was trying to protect have disappeared.

“I’m very scared for them,” she says. “Many women in Herat may survive coronavirus but won’t survive the lockdown.”