Another day, another atrocity. Following the Taliban government in Afghanistan banning Afghan women from working for national and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the government gave women a run for their freedom.
Now, according to media outlets, female merchandisers at the women-only Rabia Balkhi and City Walk markets in Balkh province have been ordered to close their businesses. The Taliban officials demanded women workers to leave the markets within one week.
Among the millions of sole bread earners of their families is Fereshta has been working at the market for five years as a trader at the City Walk market in Mazar-e-Sharif. According to media outlets, Fereshta said, “We are a three-member family, I don’t have a husband, and the living expenses are on my shoulders. I work here and the Taliban have told me not to work anymore and it is tough for me.”
Najiba, another trader at the Rabia Balkhi market, who is the house-head of a nine-member family stated, “My father is disabled, and I have been running a shop here for seven years, and in the beginning, the sales were high, but these days [sales are] down.”
“We accepted all Taliban restrictions; wearing hijab, but now they have told us to close our shops. I have put all my capital in this shop, if this shop is closed, I will suffer a big blow [financially] and economic hardship,” Najiba lamented.
On the flip side, this gender discrimination has met with outrage from many aid organizations that paused their operations in Afghanistan.
Although international condemnation is at an all-time high, the Taliban government is continuously defending its decision to push back Afghani women from public life.
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