Halima Rafat was an Afghan nurse and women's rights activist.
She was one of the first two nurses of her country, and belonged to the pioneer generation of professional women in Afghanistan.
[1] Ayesha Maqsudi and Halima Rafat were the first two nurses in Afghanistan.
This was a time period were women normally lived secluded in purdah, since the reforms of women's rights enacted by king Amanullah Khan and queen Soraya Tarzi in the 1920s had been reverted after their deposition in 1929, and the 1930s were a period of reactionary conservatism, and she experienced difficulties because of it.
She was reported to be the first woman to deliver a speech in Pashto on the Pashtonistan day at Women's General Park in Kabul.