Dr Batool Haidari (Rome, Italy) is a writer, researcher, and clinical psychologist. Before the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, she published numerous articles on women’s civil rights in Afghan newspapers, helping raise societal awareness of women’s issues. She also taught Sexology at Kabul Education University and provided counseling to patients struggling with gender identity issues. Her research papers on treatments for cold temperament and pedophilic disorder have appeared in scientific journals. In 2021 she fled to Rome, where she now gives online counselling to more than a hundred teenage girls in Afghanistan who are banned from attending school. She is a recipient of the 2023 Renate Fonte Award, which honours individuals who have stood up to violence and contributed to the advancement of gender equality and freedom of expression.