Zarifa Ghafari was the youngest elected Mayor in Afghanistan until she was forced to flee by Taliban threats to her life. Ghafari was initially unable to take up office in 2018 due to local resistance around her age and gender. She was mobbed by men ordering her to resign on her first day in office and has survived three assassination attempts by the Taliban, who went on to kill her father in front of his Kabul home. Ghafari was forced to flee Afghanistan in the summer of 2021. Despite the threats to her life, Ghafari has since returned to Afghanistan to coordinate humanitarian aid efforts as founder and CEO of the Assistance and Promotion of Afghan Women organization.