How Defiant Afghan Women Are Making Jewelry from Bullets
In Afghanistan, young girls and women struggle under the Taliban’s gender apartheid. But Laila Haidari continues to defy the harsh regime.
Since the Taliban took over in 2021, Ogai Amail, a resident of Kabul, sums up best the desperate living conditions of ordinary Afghanis.
“From the day they have come, life has lost its meaning,” said Ogai Amail, “Everything has been snatched from us, they have even entered our personal space.”
With 850.000 (80%) teenage girls cut off from education, women barred from government jobs, and females ordered to cover up in public fully, life has been bleak.
But one woman is determined to stay behind and make life more bearable for her fellow females.
Keeping women’s hopes and dreams alive
Laila Haidari defies the Taliban daily by educating 350 women in her training center. Women in different locations learn English, IT skills, painting, dressmaking, and jewelry design.
“Look what we are using!” says Haidari as she empties a bag of bullets. “These men are killing each other with these, but we women are turning them into art.”
