The Reality of Being a Businesswoman in Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan

• Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, Afghan women have faced systemic dismantling of their rights, including bans on education, employment, and public movement.
• The author launched a detergent and plastic business in 2023, creating 14 jobs, only to face constant state intimidation, harassment, and eventual detention.
• Taliban authorities actively enforce the exclusion of women from economic life, including demanding the dismissal of female employees and subjecting business owners to interrogation and humiliation.

Taliban Restrictions on Women

• Shutdown of schools, universities, and educational centers for girls and women.
• Official bans on women working in both government and private sectors.
• Mandatory hijab requirements and a ban on leaving the house without a 'mahram' (male guardian).
• Systematic efforts to confine women to the home and erase them from public spaces.

Challenges for Women in Business

• Registration and daily operations were met with intrusive questions, contempt from the market, and fear of sudden Taliban inspections.
• Despite creating mixed-gender workspaces as a compromise, authorities continued to pressure the author to fire all female staff.
• The author was arrested by the 'serious crimes department' and subjected to degrading treatment, eventually being released only under family guarantee.

Implications

• The author describes current life as a 'social quarantine' where personal freedom and hope for the future have been obliterated.
• The economic and social environment for women is described as deteriorating daily, with no prospects for independent, active roles in society.