Mary Akrami

Mary Akrami is the Director of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center, which is a women’s shelter in Kabul. Women come to the shelter to escape domestic violence or forced marriages, and no one is ever turned away. Women are allowed to stay as long as needed while they recover from the violence they have suffered, often at the hands of a male relative. The Center is the only shelter in Kabul providing comprehensive assistance and permitting women to stay longer than a few nights. Shelter staff provide legal advice, literacy classes, psychological counseling, and basic skills training. Under Ms. Akrami’s leadership, several women at the shelter have made the virtually unprecedented move of denouncing their abusers publicly and filing court cases against them. Notwithstanding threats she has received, Mary Akrami refuses to be intimidated and remains dedicated to her work. She is on call for women who need her assistance 24 hours a day.