An Afghan Voice That Fear Won't Silence

"The Taliban have been replaced. People have changed physically, but not mentally. They are all the same," she said. "They are all Taliban in different clothes. They don't really believe in democracy."

"Corrupt leftovers from the Northern Alliance used their money and guns to return to power," she said, referring to the main anti-Taliban militia. "Now they are the biggest risk for the future of Afghanistan."

She lamented that $12 billion in foreign assistance and another $10 billion in the pipeline would not filter down to impoverished Afghans in need of clothing, schooling, books and medical care. Citing a UNICEF report, she said 700 children and 15 to 20 women were dying daily in Afghanistan because of poor public health services.

Joya forged her appeal among simple folk in Farah province by working for the Organization for Promoting Afghan Women's Capabilities, a nongovernmental organization active in health care, education and income-generating projects. Human rights abuses against Afghan women continue in the post-Taliban period, she said, bringing up the case of Nadia Anjuman , a poet beaten to death by her husband in November, and Amina , a young woman who was stoned to death by fellow villagers last April after having an affair with a neighbor.

"I am young, and the women of Afghanistan need me to speak out against injustice," she said when asked whether she feared for her safety. "My life has not really changed. I live in my uncle's house in Kabul so as not to be alone."

Of the 68 women in the parliament's lower house, Joya said, some have been supportive of her efforts but others have avoided talking to her out of fear and pressure from their male peers.

Joya was in Washington this week to meet with leaders at Vital Voices, a nonprofit organization that promotes the role of women in leadership and governance. With funding and help from the French government, Vital Voices is trying to organize an eight-day program in June for Afghanistan's female legislators to help them govern more effectively and to boost camaraderie.

"We want to provide them with some training. This is what they are asking for and some of them have never been in public office before," said Alyse Nelson Bloom , a director of Vital Voices. The goal is to sharpen their negotiation techniques and help them formulate strategy together.

"I want to expose the drug lords and criminals who reduced Afghanistan to this mess," Joya said. "I want to use the little chance of democracy we now have."