When the hated Taliban were ousted, Afghan women felt their daily nightmare was over. They hoped to reclaim the future for their daughters despite isolation at the hands of the international community. But generations of neglect and second-class status don't vanish with the current political winds. Journalist Sally Armstrong exposes the ongoing struggles of women in modern Afghanistan by following the lives of five courageous women from diverse backgrounds: Dr. Sima Simar, a woman who ignored death threats and defied edicts of the Taliban by providing healthcare and education to women, and became briefly, Deputy Prime Minister in the transitional government; Soghra, who lost everything to the Taliban, now struggling to feed and clothe her five children; Hamida, a school principal determined to provide education to her female students; Camellah, an Afghan housewife living in a country whose laws make her a virtual sex slave to her husband; and Lima, a young girl whose childhood has been lost to war.