Afghan Women

Venus Williams is among the most famous athletes in the world. A five-time Wimbledon singles champion. Seven-time Grand Slam tournament singles winner and, with younger sister Serena, a nine-time Grand Slam tournament doubles champion. Just past her 29th birthday, the Lynwood native is as compelling on the court as she is in the board rooms where the business of tennis is conducted and its policies are shaped.

Everybody knows about Jay Leno's taste for topical humor. Far fewer are aware that his wife, Mavis, has long been one of Hollywood's most influential behind-the-scenes activists on behalf of women. For more than a decade Mavis Leno has made the plight of Afghan women her particular case and this month she and the organization in which she plays a pivotal role -- the Feminist Majority Foundation -- will hold what amounts to a coming out party for the next round in this cause.

For a painfully shy fiction writer who insists he has no political agenda, Khaled Hosseini learned the power of international celebrity -- and his own voice -- in a hurry. Just before he became a bestselling author, the San Jose-area doctor took a trip to his native Afghanistan in 2003. His first book, "The Kite Runner," had not yet appeared, and he had no clue it was about to become a publishing sensation.

EACH morning, the policewoman puts on her uniform, goes to her precinct office, sits behind a bare desk. And waits. She is one of several officers appointed to make it easier for women to report domestic violence. Her job ought to be one of the busiest in the district. Instead, Pushtoon, who goes by one name, has one of the loneliest. "Last week we had one woman.

Kabul, Afghanistan — EACH morning, the policewoman puts on her uniform, goes to her precinct office, sits behind a bare desk. And waits. She is one of several officers appointed to make it easier for women to report domestic violence. Her job ought to be one of the busiest in the district. Instead, Pushtoon, who goes by one name, has one of the loneliest. "Last week we had one woman. Before that there had not been anyone for several weeks," she said, twisting hands left scarred by her attempt at suicide years ago in a Taliban jail.

Zainab Salbi was 11 when her father became Saddam Hussein's personal pilot and her family's happy home life abruptly ended. The family was forced into close companionship with the dictator, accompanying him on trips and often dining at his table. "Being close to the devil is not a good thing," Salbi said. "It makes you that much closer to danger.

An insult commonly added to troubled nations' injuries is that their problems eventually become normative in the eyes of outsiders -- Third World business as usual.

More than 300 women took to the streets of Kabul on Thursday to protest growing violence against them and demand that the Karzai government take action against those responsible for the recent deaths of five women. "Why is the government so quiet about the death of our sisters in the last two weeks? Women are dying on the streets of Afghanistan these days and no one is saying a word," said Jamila Afghani, an activist who organized the demonstration.