HARVARD LAW TODAY — Rangina Kargar has stared down adversity in a way that few others have. When she was running to become a member of Afghanistan’s parliament for the Faryab region in 2010, she received ominous warnings from those who disapproved of her candidacy and her advocacy for women’s rights. At times, the threats escalated to life-threatening levels, as when a roadside bomb exploded near her car in the Dawlatabad district. Kargar survived — and, undeterred, went on to be elected as the youngest member of Afghanistan’s National Assembly. There, she says she wanted to represent a new generation by promoting democracy and human rights. Her biggest obstacle yet came on August 15, 2021. At the time, Kargar and her family — she has a husband and four children — were temporarily out of the country, and had plans to return home several days later. But after the Taliban captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, and toppled the government, Kargar knew her career and life of advocacy made her a prime target for violence. “The situation was very bad,” she says. “We could not go back.” Kargar and her family are now in Turkey. But while they are safe from immediate harm, her children cannot attend school, and she and her husband cannot work. Further, the country does not provide a way for them to stay permanently.