\n<\/p>\n
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) \u2014 Frozan Ahmadzai is one of 200,000 Afghan women who have the Taliban\u2019s permission to work. She should have graduated from university this year in pursuit of her dream of becoming a doctor, but the Taliban have barred women from higher education<\/a> and excluded them from many jobs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, instead of suturing, she sews in a basement in Kabul. Instead of administering medication, she makes pickles.<\/p>\n Half of Afghanistan’s population now finds itself locked out of the freedom to work at a time when the country’s economy is worse than ever.<\/p>\n Few jobs are still available to women. They include tailoring and making food, which the 33-year-old Ahmadzai now does along with women who once were teachers or aspired to be one.<\/p>\n Women’s participation in the workforce in Afghanistan, always limited by conservative cultural beliefs, was 14.8% in 2021, before the Taliban seized power<\/a> and imposed harsh restrictions on women and girls. They include banning female education beyond sixth grade, barring women from public spaces like parks<\/a>, and enforcing dress codes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Women’s participation in the workforce was down to 4.8% in 2023, according to World Bank data.<\/p>\n Ahmadzai\u2019s eyes flare when talking about the new reality for Afghan women. \u201cWe are only looking for a way to escape,\u201d she said, referring to the work in the basement. It’s a step, at least, beyond being confined at home.<\/p>\n But profits are slim for her and her 50 colleagues in the collective. In a good month, the pickle-making and tailoring businesses bring in around 30,000 afghanis ($426).<\/p>\n The women also have other complaints familiar to anyone in Afghanistan: The rent and utility bills are high. The sewing machines are old-fashioned. The electricity supply is erratic. Local retailers don\u2019t compensate them fairly. They don\u2019t receive support from banks or local authorities to help their businesses grow.<\/p>\n Just obtaining permission from the Taliban to work is challenging for women, though under Afghan labor laws, the process for work permits ought to be the same for both sexes.<\/p>\n The ministry responsible for issuing permits has banned women from its premises, setting up a female-only office elsewhere. It’s to \u201cspeed things up and make things easier\u201d for women, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Samiullah Ebrahimi.<\/p>\n There, women submit their paperwork, including their national identity card, a cover letter and a health certificate from a private clinic. That\u2019s assuming they have the documents along with the money to cover any costs. It also assumes they can move around without being harassed if unaccompanied by a male guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last year, a top United Nations official said Afghanistan had become the most repressive country<\/a> in the world for women and girls. Roza Otunbayeva, head of the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, said that while the country needed to recover from decades of war, half of its potential doctors, scientists, journalists and politicians were \u201cshut away in their homes, their dreams crushed and their talents confiscated.\u201d<\/p>\n The Taliban have a different view. They have tried to provide women with a \u201csafe, secure and separate\u201d working environment in line with Islamic values \u200b\u200band Afghan traditions in sectors where women\u2019s work is needed, according to ministry spokesman Ebrahimi. They can work in retail or hospitality, but it must be a female-only setting.<\/p>\n He said women don\u2019t need degrees for the majority of permissible work including cleaning, security screening, handicrafts, farming, tailoring or food manufacturing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s heartbreaking for Ahmadzai and her colleagues to see their expertise go unused. Several also were training to be makeup artists, but beauty parlors have been closed<\/a>.<\/p>\n Some jobs for women remain in education and health care, so Ahmadzai has pivoted to a nursing and midwifery course so she can become a medical professional. But not a doctor. The Taliban don’t want more female doctors.<\/p>\n