Every day, Afghan women face the strictest restrictions in the contemporary world. In order to avoid economic collapse and isolation, the Taliban government has recently allowed women to start their own businesses in the country. Yes indeed, They have to comply with a cascade of strict regulations.
More than 10,000 Afghan women have business licenses – a ten-point increase over the past five years. With another 120,000 people working without a license, small businesses are the largest employers of Afghan women, according to the World Bank. However, despite this apparent halo of hope, hidden are the dreams of thousands of women who one day wanted to be lawyers, engineers or university professors.
But these optimistic data do not mean that the majority of Afghan women do not work outside the home: In addition, those who dare to do so face recent obstacles day in and day out.
Besides, The list of businesses that a woman can coordinate in Afghanistan is short: They cannot manage beauty salons, study midwifery or nursing, or talk to male clients, suppliers or bank officials.
A 19 year old boss
Nasira Azizi19, was just 14 when the Taliban returned to power in 2021 and later banned millions of girls like her beyond the sixth grade. “I fell into depression,” says the owner and coordinator of the Mazar-i-Sharif warehouse, in northern Afghanistan. For now, It has about 450 workers in two workshops and at home.
“Here, at least there are more issues to discuss, more motivation to do the work,” explains the Afghan businesswoman in her statements to the American newspaper. As she tells it, including a grant to create jobs for Afghan women who have been expelled from the neighboring countries of Iran and Pakistan in recent years.
But, as women, There are some activities that they cannot do by law. Therefore, his two brothers are in charge of designing the rugs and marketing. Her father runs one of the workshops, where male employees clean the rugs before selling them.
