Afghanistan: Girls' education ban leaves few options for women

Nearly five years on from Afghanistan's school ban, young women say they have waved goodbye to their dreams.

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The journey by taxi last year with her female cousin - covered from head to toe, only their eyes visible, as the rules decree - was an exceptional thing to do, and risky in Afghanistan, where at any moment they might be caught by the Taliban inspectors enforcing rules banning women travelling long distances without a male relative escorting them.

But Alia, who is 19, and her cousin weren't stopped at any Taliban checkpoints, and made it to the capital.

"I made up an excuse to my family saying I was coming here to meet my friends and former classmates. But that's not true. They are not here. The actual reason is that if I stayed in Daykundi, I would be forced to get married."

Instead, she arrived in Kabul with a plan: she enrolled in an English language course.