The 2002 book "Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom" describes a life under the Taliban where women were largely confined to their homes and barred from working or going to school.

Zoya is a pseudonym used to protect the identity of the book's author, whose parents disappeared when she was in her early 20s - victims of a ruthless crackdown on opponents of the Taliban's fundamentalist government.

In the years since the fall of the Taliban, Zoya has risked her life to continue to fight for the dignity of women in Afghanistan. She's part of a self-described radical women's group. They're radical, she says because of their anti-fundamentalist views - and also their belief that the presence of the American military in their country is an obstacle to progress. The group is called RAWA: The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan.

Recently Zoya was in our area and VPR's Steve Zind spoke with her. He began by asking her about the situation for women in Afghanistan today.