About

Women for Afghan Women has provided life-changing services to its clients since 2001. Since then, we’ve grown into one of the largest organizations serving the needs of Afghan women in Afghanistan and in the United States.

We envision a world in which all women and their families thrive and prosper.

Our Mission

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) is a grassroots organization empowering Afghan women and girls in both Afghanistan and the U.S. to realize their full potential and advocate for their rights, while challenging societal norms to create lasting change and advance gender equality.

Our Vision for Afghan Women

Women for Afghan Women is committed to working towards a world in which Afghan women and girls enjoy peace, justice, equality, and the freedom to participate in all spheres of life and live without fear.

Our History

WAW was founded in April 2001 with volunteers serving the needs of a few Afghan immigrant women in Queens, New York. Our founders discovered these women endured similar challenges and abuses as their sisters in Afghanistan.

Serving a vulnerable population

In response to a needs assessment conducted with this underserved population, WAW launched the New York Community Center (NYCC) in 2003 and the Virginia Community Center (VACC) in 2022. WAW’s U.S. community center staff is mostly women-led and come from Afghan, South Asian, and other Muslim immigrant communities in New York and Virginia.

Many Afghan and Muslim immigrant families feel vulnerable, living in isolation and economically disadvantaged communities in the United States. More particularly, most Afghan immigrant women in the U.S. are uneducated and many are illiterate in both their primary language and English, making it hard for them to assimilate much less find secure, gainful employment. As a result, most Afghan and Muslim immigrant families rely on one source of income with women in the household entirely financially dependent. Afghan and other Muslim immigrant women and their children feel isolated because of language and limited social networks. Many Afghan and Muslim immigrant women and their children are also survivors of domestic and gender based violence (GBV). Because they are unfamiliar with the U.S. justice system, they are unaware that domestic and GBV is a crime.

WAW is dedicated to offering the women we serve at our community centers a new path forward by offering pro bono services and programs that reflect their needs.

This network of services and programs includes legal, immigration, gender-based violence, social services, job placement, citizenship instruction, senior and youth programs and community outreach. Many of our clients have regarded our community centers as a place of refuge and education, and have never been charged a fee for any services provided to them.

In Afghanistan, domestic violence is considered a family matter, with the public sector, law enforcement, and courts rarely intervening. Great shame is placed on women subjected to domestic and GBV by their family members. They and their children suffer both physically and psychologically from this violence and abuse.

Meeting Challenges Face-On

Today, unprecedented challenges to Afghan women, girls, and their families have been brought on by the political, economic and humanitarian upheaval gripping Afghanistan since August 2021 and the conflicts impacting the country well before 2021.

Despite the immense challenges to rights-based and humanitarian work in Afghanistan, WAW partners with local and international partners to expand our reach, protections, and humanitarian support to the most vulnerable women, girls, children, and their families. Like many other humanitarian and development organizations in the country, WAW has adapted its programs to the realities presented by conditions in Afghanistan. We continue to assess and reassess the best way forward and for our team to work in ways that uphold our commitment to women and girls, while ensuring clients and staff remain safe.