2025–2026 · Rainbow Voice Afghanistan · 5 minute read
Introduction
Zuleikha is a transgender Afghan woman and an electrical-engineering graduate. Her story challenges the false idea that education alone can protect a person from discrimination.
She worked hard to complete her studies, but harassment and involuntary disclosure followed her from education into employment. Her qualifications did not remove the barriers created by prejudice.
Education Under Pressure
Studying engineering required concentration, regular attendance and confidence in classrooms dominated by rigid expectations about gender.
Zuleikha experienced harassment linked to her appearance and gender expression. Instead of being judged by her academic work, she was often treated as a subject of curiosity or ridicule.
This kind of environment can make students avoid participation, group work and campus activities. It can also affect attendance when travelling to school becomes unsafe.
Identity Disclosed Without Consent
Zuleikha describes being exposed without her consent. Involuntary disclosure can have severe consequences in Afghanistan and among displaced communities.
A person who is outed may face family violence, eviction, forced marriage, blackmail or loss of employment. Even rumors can be dangerous when institutions provide little protection.
Once information spreads through social media or community networks, it can be difficult to control. Screenshots, photographs and forwarded messages may continue circulating long after the original post is removed.
Graduation and the Search for Work
Completing an engineering degree should have opened professional opportunities. Instead, Zuleikha found that employers and colleagues focused on her identity rather than her qualifications.
Job interviews can become unsafe when identification documents, appearance and voice do not match an employer’s expectations. Applicants may be asked invasive questions unrelated to their skills.
Discrimination can also continue after hiring. Harassment by coworkers, unequal treatment and threats of exposure may force a person to leave even when they are fully capable of doing the work.
The Wider Cost of Employment Discrimination
Losing access to work affects every part of life. Without income, it becomes harder to pay rent, obtain healthcare, maintain communication and renew documents.
Economic exclusion can push transgender people into informal work where there are fewer protections. Employers may withhold wages, demand unsafe tasks or threaten to report workers.
For refugees, employment restrictions and documentation problems can add another layer of vulnerability. A qualified professional may be unable to use her education because her legal status remains temporary.
Professional Identity and Dignity
Zuleikha’s story is also about professional identity. She is not only a survivor of discrimination; she is a trained engineer with knowledge and abilities that could contribute to society.
When institutions exclude transgender professionals, they waste talent and reinforce poverty. Equal treatment means evaluating people by their education, experience and conduct.
Respect also requires privacy. Employers and educational institutions should not disclose a person’s gender history or personal information without consent.
What Her Experience Shows
Zuleikha’s experience demonstrates that LGBTQI+ rights include access to education and employment, not only protection from physical violence.
A safe future requires institutions that prevent harassment, protect personal information and provide fair opportunities regardless of gender identity or expression.