Last December, Afghan media worker Shahnaz Mohmand rushed to comfort her female colleagues as they reeled in shock after fellow employee Malala Maiwand was shot dead in the eastern city of Jalalabad.

“Don’t lose yourself, you have to be strong,” she said as she hugged Nadia Momand, the 21-year-old producer recalled. “There are many things that we have to do for our society, especially for women and girls.”