Before 2021, the 44-year-old businesswoman owned a popular restaurant in Kabul, which was popular with Afghan intellectuals, writers, journalists, and foreigners for its lively music and poetry performances. Haidari used part of the profits to fund a drug rehabilitation center she founded.

Most businesses established by Afghan women before 2021 were related to small-scale industries. However, a clear trend is that more and more women are entering sectors traditionally considered “the domain” of men, such as information technology, communications, exports, tourism, and construction.

Afghan women work at a garment factory in Herat province on August 7, 2023.

Even Haidari’s restaurant business is a remarkable achievement, given the taboos in Islamic law surrounding women’s interactions with men outside the family. Afghanistan is also starting to see a number of female entrepreneurs running large foreign-owned businesses in mining; logistics; and import and export.

Things changed after the Taliban took control of the country in August 2021. The Taliban government issued many bans on women participating in most jobs, banning girls from going to school, banning women from going to university. Women are not allowed to play sports, go to public places or go out without a male relative (mahram) accompanying them.

Just days after the Taliban took over the country, Haidari’s drug rehabilitation center was closed, her restaurant destroyed, and her belongings looted. Rising from the rubble, Haidari quietly set up a craft workshop that cuts and sews clothes, designs fashion accessories, and makes carpets and home decor. The workshop employs about 50 women, earning a meager $58 a month each. Haidari continues to donate some of her profits to a secret school, where 200 girls are studying, both in person and online. “I don’t want Afghan girls to forget everything, or in a few years we’ll have another generation of illiterate girls,” Haidari said.

Afghanistan is mired in a severe economic crisis after many countries cut aid and froze foreign reserves in an effort to punish the Taliban government. As a result, the aid-dependent Afghan economy has been paralyzed, millions of people have lost their jobs, government workers have not been paid, and food and medicine prices have skyrocketed. According to a United Nations report, this South Asian country has 28.3 million people (equivalent to two-thirds of the population) in a humanitarian crisis and need urgent assistance.

The crisis has hit all businesses hard, but the hardship for women has been compounded by the Taliban’s harsh bans, including a ban on women going out without a “mahram.” In a country with 2 million widows, single women and divorcees—many of whom are the sole breadwinners for their families—the harsh ban has effectively cut off their chances of survival.

Despite the harsh restrictions, thousands of Afghan women are finding ways to start their own businesses at home, including Sadaf. After her husband died in 2015, Sadaf (who asked that her real name not be used) relied on her income from a beauty salon in Kabul to support her five children.

Last month, the Taliban government ordered all beauty salons to close, saying they “offered treatments that were against Islamic values.” To make ends meet, Sadaf started a beauty care service at home. Worried about what other bans might come, the strong-willed woman still found ways to make a living.

Despite the exclusion of women from most aspects of public life, the Taliban has not banned women from running businesses, which has allowed some international organizations to continue to oversee employment projects. The charity CARE Afghanistan is focusing on training Afghan women in sewing, embroidery, and making foods such as cookies, jams, and pickles, helping them open small shops at home to earn a living.

With the innate function of taking care of the family, even in difficult and desperate circumstances, Afghan women are still trying to overcome all deadlocks to find a way to take control of their lives.

HA PHUONG

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