"Being forced to leave Afghanistan and to be here (in France), now it's a very difficult transition", says Rada Akbar, an Afghan graphic artist who was evacuated from Kabul to Paris last August, following the fall of Afghanistan under the Taliban. Mursal Sayas, a journalist and feminist activist, said "life in exile is not easy", but she feels good about being able to "speak and write about the women and their difficulties, especially for those who cannot speak now". IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES