The impassioned memoir of Afghanistan’s Sima Samar: medical doctor, public official, founder of schools and hospitals, thorn in the side of the Taliban, nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, and lifelong advocate for girls and women.
Sima Samar has spent her life challenging power in Afghanistan. A pioneering doctor, she provided healthcare to women in some of the country’s most remote regions, often at significant personal risk. She went on to become Minister of Women’s Affairs, becoming one of the Taliban’s most determined critics.
Born into a Hazara family and raised in a polygamous household, Samar grew up understanding the consequences of gender and ethnic inequality in Afghanistan. Forced into an arranged marriage, she was still a young doctor when her husband was disappeared by the pro-Soviet regime. In the aftermath, she faced a stark choice: retreat into safety or dedicate herself to resisting injustice in all its forms.
Over decades of war, displacement, threats and exile, she has remained unwavering in her commitment to women’s rights and human dignity, building institutions, delivering care and refusing to be silenced. This memoir is her account of a life lived at the centre of Afghanistan’s most turbulent history – an intimate and unflinching testimony of courage, loss and enduring resistance.
''In Outspoken, Sima Samar relates her lifelong struggles against patriarchy: as an Afghan girl, a medical doctor, a refugee in Pakistan who built hospitals and schools, a government official and a human rights defender. Her story trenchantly illuminates what we must all learn from interventions in Afghanistan and serves as a warning to the world at a time when women’s rights are under siege.''
''For two decades, Sima Samar was the conscience of democratic Afghanistan—a physician, human rights advocate, institution-builder, and justice-seeker. She embodied the ideals of her country’s revival after 2001 but paid a heavy price. Her story is essential and inspiring reading for all Americans, complicit as we are in a tragedy from which we must not turn away.''
‘Sima Samar is a champion of human rights and an inspiration for women the world over. Her powerful and moving memoir is a vital read for anyone ... An inspiring story of resilience, courage and hope for a just future for Afghanistan.''
''Afghanistan’s unsurpassably sad last half century ranks among the most dismal and disastrous episodes in all of human history. Sima Samar lived at the epicentre of this evil storm and has spent her life working tirelessly to improve the lives of her fellow Afghans, always holding on tenaciously to the hope for a better future. Outspoken is a book that is sobering, necessary — absolutely riveting.''
''While so many champion the idea of universal human rights in Afghanistan, few have done more than Sima Samar to try to make them a reality. This book doesn''t just ask for dignity and a future for Afghans, especially Afghan women, it demands it: sometimes through logic and law but often through the passionate insistence of the narrator that she, an Afghan woman, thinks, feels and dreams too. Highly recommended.''
''Breaking boundaries, Dr Samar’s story is a powerful testament to the undaunted struggle for the rights of women and girls, and its pivotal role in the quest for change and justice, even in the most masculine societies on earth.''
''Outspoken is a must-read; for every woman — indeed for every person — who supports equality and human rights, especially for women and girls. Dr. Samar’s life is an inspiration; she speaks truth to power and has repeatedly risked her life for doing so. Feminists worldwide can and must learn from her experiences.''
''Outspoken invites the reader into the heart of a country, to witness its people’s resilience and their strength. Despite the many treacherous paths Afghans have travelled over more than forty years of war, Sima Samar shows us the beauty of the Afghan soul and the wonder of Afghanistan. The very definition of courage, Sima Samar has fought tirelessly, through personal pain and tragedy, facing down successive repressive regimes — and even a few allied to the West — in her quest for justice. She is a hero indeed.''
‘A mighty memoir … A book to break hearts but also bring hope. Sima Samar was the unflinching face of Afghans’ fight for human rights and justice. Her story is ours too, and it’s time it was told. A testament to the power of sisterhood and the conviction that women need to speak out – and lean in.’
‘A riveting book that conjures up all you need to know about Afghanistan. Samar’s analysis is penetrating and heartbreaking, but forever optimistic and forward looking … Extraordinary, gripping and deeply moving.’
''Afghanistan, often referred to as ‘the graveyard of empires,’ has been described and explained at length by foreigners, usually men. This book provides an illuminating view of contemporary—I hesitate to say modern—Afghanistan, from a woman who weaves the personal and the political into the story of her successes and dreams, but who never gives in to despair. Sima Samar’s life and work stand in defiance to the dark rule of the Taliban, as a promise for a better future for all Afghans, even when the whole world seems to have abandoned them.''
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