Mary Akrami is a leading human rights activist and the former executive director of the Afghan Women’s Network. She is also the former executive director of the Afghan Women Skills Development Center, which established the first shelter for women at risk in 2003. Mary operated shelters in Kabul and had restaurants where she created job opportunities for women. She has been a staunch advocate for the prevention of violence against women and instrumental in advocating for women’s inclusion and the passage of Afghanistan’s violence against women law — “Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women.”