Kate Brooks
Women War Photographers
Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan
2005
A young girl and her sibling wait to be examined at a rural medical clinic. After years of war Afghanistan has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world, Unicef estimates up to 600 children under the age of five die every day primarily due to preventable diseases.
![]()
Lana Slezic
Forsaken
Kabul, Afghanistan
February 2004
Destroyed buildings often substitute for playgrounds in Kabul. An abandoned Soviet housing project built before the Taliban regime is now home to 105 refugee families who returned from Pakistan three years ago. The men are virtually unemployed and most struggle day to day to feed their families.
![]()
Lana Slezic
Forsaken
Kabul, Afghanistan
April 2005
Malalai, a mother to six children, was the first policewoman in Kandahar. Her father and grandfather were policemen before her. Unlike other women in the region, Malalai works alongside men, apprehending criminals and restoring justice in one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. When working outside her home and office she is always armed beneath her Burka.
![]()
LS330001
Lana Slezic
Forsaken
Kabul, Afghanistan
August 2005
A prostitute in Kabul. Decades of war have left thousands of women widowed. Many have turned to prostitution as an only means to support their children. If discovered these women could be killed by their families to maintain honour for the family name.
![]()
Lana Slezic
Forsaken
Kabul, Afghanistan
August 2005
Some Mosques have kitchens where women go to cook a particular sweet when their prayers have been answered or problems resolved. They then distribute the sweet to everyone in the Mosque. While preparing the sweet they slap the walls to rid their hands of flour.
![]()