Mahjooba Nowrouzi
BBC Afghan Service
Bbc
Carpet weaving is one of the few professions open to women since the Taliban government took power in 2021
During a workshop in Kabul where carpets are made, hundreds of women and girls work in a cramped space, thick and suffocating air.
Among them, Salehe Hassani, 19 years old. “We, girls, no longer have the chance to study,” she said with a flickering smile. “The circumstances took this to us, so we turned to the workshop.”
Since the Taliban took power in 2021, girls over 12 have been prohibited from obtaining education and women from many jobs.
In 2020, only 19% of women were part of the workforce – four times less than men. This number has dropped even more under the domination of the Taliban.
The lack of opportunities, associated with the disastrous economic situation with which the country faces, has pushed many long, laborious days of carpet weaving – one of the few trades in which the Taliban government allows women to work.
According to the UN, the livelihoods of around 1.2 to 1.5 million Afghans depend on the carpet weaving industry, women representing almost 90% of the workforce.
In an economy that the UN warned in a 2024 report warned that had “collapsed” since the Taliban took power, the carpet export activity is booming.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that in the first six months of 2024 only, more than 2.4 million kilograms of carpets – worth $ 8.7 million (6.6 million pounds sterling) – were exported to countries like Pakistan, India, Austria and the United States.
But that did not necessarily mean better wages for weavers. Some to which the BBC spoke said they had not seen any benefit of a room sold in Kazakhstan last year which had obtained $ 18,000.
Nisar Ahmad Hassieni employs around 600 women in three workshops
In Afghanistan, carpets sell much less – between $ 100 and $ 150 per square meter. Need money to help support their families and have few employment options, workers are trapped in a low-remuneration workforce.
The carpet weavers say that they earn about $ 27 for each square meter, which usually takes about a month to produce. It is less than one dollar per day despite the long and exhausting changes which often extend to 10 or 12 hours.
Nisar Ahmad Hassieni, head of the Elmak Baft Company, who let the BBC enter his workshops, said that he paid his employees between $ 39 and $ 42 per square meter. He said they were paid every two weeks, with an eight -hour working day.
The Taliban have said on several occasions that girls will be allowed to return to school once their concerns, such as the alignment of the Islamic values program, are resolved – but so far, no concrete measure has been taken to get there.
Mr. Hassieni said that, following the rise in the Taliban government, his organization has been responsible for supporting the closures left by the closures.
“We have established three workshops for weaving carpets and wool rotation,” he said.
“About 50 to 60% of these carpets are exported to Pakistan, while the others are sent to China, the United States, Turkey, France and Russia to meet customer demand.”
Many weavers have been forced to leave education or professional careers
Shakila, 22, makes carpets with her sisters in one of the rooms of the modest rental they also share with their elderly parents and three brothers. They live in the Dasht-E Barchi region, in the western outskirts of Kabul.
She once dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but now led the carpet manufacturing operation.
“We couldn’t do anything else,” said Shakila. “There were no other jobs”.
She explains how her father taught her to weave him at the age of 10 and that he recovered from a car accident.
What started as a necessary skill during the difficulty has now become the family’s rescue buoy.
Shakila’s sister Samira, 18, aspires to become a journalist. Mariam, 13, was forced to stop going to school before she even could start dreaming of a career.
Before the Taliban’s return, the three of them were students of Sayed Al-Shuhada High School.
Their life was changed forever after deadly school attacks in 2021 killed 90 people, mainly young girls, and left nearly 300 injured.
The previous government blamed the Taliban for the attack, although the group denied any involvement.
Fearing another tragedy, their father made the decision to remove them from school.
Samira aspired to become a journalist and says that she wants to finish her studies
Samira, who was at school when the attacks occurred, was traumatized, speaking with stuttering and struggling to express themselves. However, she says she would do anything to return to formal education.
“I really wanted to finish my studies,” she said. “Now that the Taliban is in power, the security situation has improved and there has been less suicide bombing.
“But schools are always closed. That’s why we have to work.”
Despite the low salary and the long hours of work that these women face, some people’s minds are uninterrupted.
Back to one of the workshops, Salehe, determined and full of hope, said that she has been studying English for three years.
“Even if schools and universities are closed, we refuse to stop our education,” she said.
One day, adds Salehe, she plans to become a leading doctor and build the best hospital in Afghanistan.
