Letters from Afghanistan: 'I'm a public prosecutor, but I can't return to the job I love'

Masouma (not her real name) was a public prosecutor in Afghanistan before the Taliban took power in August. She worked for the judiciary gathering evidence and building legal cases.

Now in hiding, she has written a message for the BBC 100 Women ‘Letters from Afghanistan’ series about what it feels like to not be able to work for justice anymore.

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers, wrote back to Masouma. As a director of the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute, she has been involved in helping more than a hundred female judges and their families leave Afghanistan over the past months.

Masouma and Baroness Helena Kennedy QC are both on the BBC’s 100 Women list for 2021.

Video produced by Rebecca Thorn, with animations by James Mobbs and illustrations by Jilla Dastmalchi. Filmed by Robert Coxwell. 'Letters from Afghanistan’ is a BBC 100 Women series, produced by Georgina Pearce, Lara Owen, Kawoon Khamoosh, Zuhal Ahad. Edited by Valeria Perasso.