'My way of fighting is by giving women work': Afghan women turn to entrepreneurship

Let's sum up. Afghan women have been stripped of the right to study in secondary school and at university; to work in government, the justice system, commerce or for NGOs; to move around and travel freely; to file a lawsuit on their own, to learn to drive or participate in sports; to laugh, sing or speak loudly in the street; to go to public baths or beauty salons; to walk in a park, by a lake or enter place associated with leisure or entertainment; to interact with any man who is not a family member, or to play any role in public life. In short, Afghan women have lost control over their lives, their bodies and even the way they dress, making Afghanistan the worst place in the world to be a woman. And yet one field has, strikingly, remained open to them: business. They excel in it. They are even extraordinarily inventive. The Taliban seem to have understood that the private sector, into which women have thrown themselves, could save the economy from collapse. Afghan women's dynamism, which the Taliban nevertheless continue to hinder, has become a valuable asset. Since the regime change in 2021, 10,000 women business owners have obtained a license from the government, quadrupling their numbers. And more than 120,000 are currently working unlicensed, often without leaving their homes, with microenterprises being the largest providers of jobs for women, according to the World Bank. The internet has become a lifeline. Women learn the basics of management, marketing and sales online; some secure aid or loans from international organizations, although most still rely on family financing. They then build businesses around their skills and products, using Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to advertise their brands and reach customers. In Herat, a 21-year-old woman started a small business making soap and shampoo under the name Gol Magnolia ("Magnolia Flower"), and dreams of turning it into an international brand. In Jalalabad, another woman, 22, set up a pickle-making workshop at home, while in Bamiyan, a 25-year-old entrepreneur sources ingredients from nearby farms to produce excellent yogurt. In Mazar-e Sharif, Kandahar and Ghazni, women make carpets, bags, jewelry, embroidery and traditional clothing for export. You have 89.51% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.