‘Afghan Women Raise Their Voices, But No One Can Hear Them’
Fatima ran a successful tailoring business and also taught it to other young women in her locality. However, with the change of the regime, her contracts ended overnight. She recounts her tale of loss of livelihood, and insecurity and urgently calls for a collective plan to restart and re-imagine women’s livelihoods in Afghanistan
By Fatima* as told to Samuel Hall Staff
This first-person narrative is a part of our ‘Everyday Women Leaders Series’ which highlights everyday women leaders, their stories, and their hopes. This is the second story of our series. Read the first one here.
‘I’ was about seven years old when my father enrolled me in school. He bought new clothes and stationery. He always encouraged my studies and helped me with my homework.
On Fridays, we would picnic in various parks and locations, we had a wonderful and happy life.
However, soon my responsibilities increased, and I started to learn to tailor when I was in the tenth grade.
I still do tailoring, and my life improved significantly because I could earn some money. I also teach tailoring and sewing to about 25 kids. I was able to buy most things I wanted. Many organisations invited us to workshops where we gained new skills and learned new designs, and shared all those experiences with other girls and women.
However, over the last year, a lot of things have changed. Most people have lost their jobs. Women are not allowed to work outside the home. High poverty has caused depression and mental illness in most people, and access to documentation is complicated because you have to wait for a long time to get a single passport.
The change has been personal, too. I cannot earn half of the money I earned under the previous government, and the main reason is that most people have lost their jobs and need help to buy new clothes. In the past, I made 3 to 4 clothes per day, but I now make one in the entire week. Aside from that, I had contracts with 5 different shopkeepers and business owners in the city, and those contracts all ended overnight.
Now I don’t have work to do most of the time. Although all prices around me have gone up, my prices have decreased significantly; for example, in the past, I charged 300 AFN per cloth, but now I charge 150 AFN because most people are poor and cannot afford 300.
My father is unemployed, and my mother is a housewife. I have six brothers and one sister, who is married; four of my brothers have also gotten married, and we all live together in this tiny house. Although all my brothers are educated, unfortunately, none have jobs, except one who owns a cosmetic shop. The cosmetic shop is our only source of income, but honestly, it can’t fulfill our needs because, in total, there are 31 people in our house.
I know every type of tailoring, so I dream of having a centre where I could transfer my skills to girls. Most girls here wanted to learn tailoring to contribute to the family, and they visited me on several occasions. So, I told them that you all need to know the basics, i.e., how to cut the cloth and use the machine. However, the government and non-government organisations need to support me because I need resources for my training centre.
If girls want a bright future, they need education. However, looking at the country’s current situation, I don’t think that will happen soon, as all the high schools are closed. Besides that, most are poor and don’t have enough money to start a business. Women are also not allowed to go outside the house and work. So what can women do?
Getting women the information they need
Most of them are poor, and unable to access a livelihood. They need to become more familiar with where they currently live, especially for those who have been displaced or who recently returned from Pakistan or Iran. Even educated people need to figure out where to go to find a job, and people who want to start their businesses need to know what to start or what the market demand is.
Unemployment and poverty are the significant challenges that internally displaced people (IDPs) and returnee women face. The lack of money prevents them from starting their enterprises. Besides, they don’t know anyone to get a loan from to start their businesses. They also have low confidence as they cannot go outside their home independently. They need support and guidance from others who have built their careers.If a tailor from an IDP or returnee comes to me for assistance, for sure I will share all my experience with them and would be more than happy to support them.
All the organisations should restart their activities and carry out awareness-raising programs for the people in each sector because most of our people are illiterate and don’t have enough information.
Getting communities — at home and abroad — to continue to support our women
We need to work together to find solutions for women’s livelihoods — even in this context. All organisations must restart their activities and implement projects in each sector, allowing most people to find work and earn a decent living — even if that means home-based livelihoods for women.
Secondly, all the schools must be reopened for the girls, and be financially supported by foreign countries if our country is to survive this crucial moment. If schools are not open at home, the number of scholarships abroad for girls must be increased for them to study in private schools and abroad. The only way to solve all available problems is to have an educated society.
The prices need to be decreased as most people cannot buy their required items due to the low economy.
All the shuras (consultative councils) have to be reactivated and start their activities; hence, women should get their rights and freedom to work with men. And for that, we highly require the assistance of foreign countries and international organisations.
Cultural norms also affect female-run enterprises because we live in a society where most people talk behind the backs of women. Still, for me and all other women who run enterprises, the most important thing is to have the support of our family members and not break their trust.
Do not punish women — listen to us
Women have done many demonstrations to reopen schools for girls and to let them do their work, but instead, they were punished. Previously we had female lawyers and social activists with whom we could easily share our problems because women can’t share their concerns with men.
The most important thing for women is education because educated women can be part of decision-making processes and influence political decision-making.
Women can raise their voices, but no one can hear them.’
*Name has been changed to protect identity
The interview has been edited only for the purpose of brevity and clarity.
