3 Acknowledgement The report has developed out of collaborative efforts of all departments of Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization (AHRDO). I am grateful for a number of friends and colleagues who undertook much of the field research, data analysis, and devoted their time for reviewing and editing of this report. I would like to pay special thanks to Ghulam Sakhi who developed this research’s overall framework, analyzed the field data and finally drafted the report. Hadi Marifat and HjalmarJorge Joffre-Eichhorn contributed to its art-based, legal and advocacy components. They equally deserve much appreciation. Several of the AHRDO’s operational personnel played leading roles in accomplishing legislative theatre workshops, public art-based performances, focus group discussions and targeted research interviews. Amongst those working under difficult environment were, Salim Rajabi, Khatera Safi, Fatima Alavi, Nik Mohammad, Zaman Khoshnam and Zahra Yagana. The geographical scope of the program activities spanned Afghanistan’s five regions often with daunting security challenges. I express my whole-hearted appreciation to their unwavering commitment to doing their works despite many odds. I additionally credit Zaman Khoshnam for formatting this report. The report also received external inputs. The AHRDO pays gratitude to Dallas Mazoori and Dr. Sophia Milosevic Bijleveld for reviewing, commenting and copy-editing the draft report. Furthermore, AHRDO would like to express its deepest appreciation to everyone in Kabul, Herat, Jalalabad, Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamiyan who spoke to us during research for this report. Special thanks to Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the Afghan Women Educational Centre, Civil Society and Human Rights Network, Afghanistan Civil Society Forum for the continued support they provided to the research AHRDO’s operational team in different regions. Needless to say, this report would not have been possible without the altruism and selfsacrifice that each member of the research team demonstrated over the course of the entire project lifeline. Each individual involved in this project experienced working in challenging security environment. The coming to fruition of this report is outcome of their relentless work. As such, sincere appreciation goes to all of them. And finally, the senior leadership of AHRDO would like to thank the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) for its financial aid to the project. This is to be stated that this report does not reflect the views of the donor institution.