Im a Woman Who Lived as a Boy My Years as a Bacha Posh
Jenny Nordberg's The Underground Girls of Kabul, published Sept. 16, is the result of five years of research into why it's not uncommon for girls in Afghanistan to be brought up as boys. Nordberg, an investigative reporter, discovered the practice in 2009, and detailed it in a story for The New York Times. The Underground Girls of Kabul explores the reasons for, and the consequences of, this longstanding practice, which has affected many Afghan girls and women. It also offers a glimpse into the situation for women there, which remains precarious. What happens to such a person, Nordberg wondered, when they relocate to a society that values women more, and there is no longer a need to hide? She recently connected with another young Afghan woman, now living in the U.S. who once passed as a boy in her home country. Exclusively for TIME, this is the story of Faheema. **