Nowhere to hide

Married off at seven to a man old enough to be her great-grandfather, Fatema endured rapes, beatings and starvation until she could take no more and tried to kill herself. Through tears she recalls the beatings she received -- like the time, aged 10, she was flung against a wall and "my head crashed against a nail... I almost died".

Today the 22-year-old is living in one of the few shelters for battered women still open in Afghanistan since the Taliban's August return to power, but is fearful she could lose her place at any time.

If the refuge closes, Fatema will have nowhere to go. She has lost touch with her own family, while in-laws have vowed to kill her for dishonouring their name.

Fatema's plight is shared by millions in Afghanistan, where patriarchal tradition, poverty and a lack of education have held back women's rights for decades.

According to the United Nations, 87 percent of Afghan women have experienced some form of physical, sexual or psychological violence.

Despite this, the country of 38 million had only 24 shelters dedicated to their care before the Taliban's return -- almost all financed by the international community and frowned upon by many locals.

Some NGOs running shelters stepped up their work long before the Taliban takeover.

The director of one organisation told AFP she began moving women away from shelters in unstable provinces in advance of the US troop withdrawal.

Some were sent back to their blood relatives in the hope they would be offered protection from vengeful in-laws. Others were sent to shelters in bigger provincial capitals.

The Taliban insist their strict interpretation of the Quran provides women with rights and protection, but the reality is very different and they are slowly being squeezed out of public life. Most secondary schools for girls are shut, women are barred from government employment apart from select specialised areas, and this week new guidelines stated they cannot undertake long journeys unless accompanied by a male relative.

There has been some glimmer of light. Earlier this month supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada denounced forced marriage, while Suhail Shaheen -- the Taliban's would-be ambassador to the UN -- told Amnesty International that women could go to court if they were victims of violence. The regime has not made any formal pronouncement on the future of shelters, although the refuges have not escaped their notice.