Due to the closure of schools and universities and the economic poverty of families in Afghanistan, a large number of girls of school and university age turned to carpet weaving.

After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, this group blocked the doors of schools and universities to girls, and a large number of girls turned to carpet weaving due to lack of employment, poverty and unemployment.

A girl student who turned to carpet weaving in Barchi Kabul. The Peace Window

Masoumeh (pseudonym) is a second-year psychology student at Kabul University. After the rule of the Taliban group and the imposition of severe restrictions by this group on girls, she stayed at home like millions of other schoolgirls, and now after fourteen years of studying and trying for a professional career, she put aside her dreams and goals for the sake of providing for her family’s expenses. In the past, he is busy weaving carpets with his three sisters in one of the remote areas west of Kabul.

Masoumeh said in a conversation with the reporter of The Peace Window media: “I wanted to become a psychologist and bring those who are depressed back to normal life and show that one should live and be happy; But on the contrary, today I got depressed and tired of life and sometimes I think about suicide. “Now I myself need a psychologist to treat me.”

He said that after the Taliban group came to power in Afghanistan and schools and universities were closed to girls, his mental and emotional condition was very bad, and on the other hand, his father’s unemployment made the situation difficult for him and forced him to turn to carpet weaving.

But; It is not only Masoumeh who is in such a situation, Masoumeh’s sister Marzieh, who was a 10th grade student in one of the government schools in Kabul city and decided to become a journalist in the future to bring the voice of the foreign people to the ears of government officials. But with the closing of the schools, this goal was destroyed and he turned to carpet weaving.

In this conversation, Marzieh says that she endured many hardships during her student period to reach her lofty goals; But with the arrival of the Taliban in Afghanistan, all his faces were destroyed and the Taliban did not allow him to achieve his goals and the tree of his dreams to bear fruit.

But; He emphasized: “I hope that soon the doors of schools will be opened for millions of girls in Afghanistan, and I will finish my remaining three years of studies and serve as a successful journalist in the society.”

The girls students at carpet weaving in Barchi Kabul. The Peace Window

Masoumeh and Marzieh’s father worked in a government office during the republican regime and was the sole breadwinner of his family of 6. He was also fired by the Taliban and lost his source of income.

In this conversation, the father of these two young girls emphasized that due to economic problems, he had to lay carpets and provide his daughters with the expenses of a family of six.

Women’s rights activists also consider this situation of girls as unfortunate and say that the Taliban group has destroyed all the achievements of the last two decades that women had achieved in various fields by imposing severe restrictions on women and girls.

One of the women’s rights activists, who did not want to be named in this report, said that carpet weaving and some handicrafts that educated women and girls do out of necessity have no economic dimension.

He emphasized that this situation shows severe social regression and civil progress.

Abdulman Heydari, the head of the Afghan Carpet Producers and Exporters’ Union, in a conversation with the reporter of Rosneh Selah, says that following the recent political developments in the country and the rise of the Taliban group, a large number of the country’s citizens, due to poverty, unemployment, and the closure of schools and universities, Girls have turned to carpet weaving.

Mr. Heydari emphasizes that in the past years, more than one million people, 90% of whom are women, were engaged in the carpet weaving industry; However, after the Taliban came to power, due to unemployment, the closure of girls’ schools and economic problems, this number reached more than 2 million people, which increased in various provinces, especially in the north of the country.

However, schools for girls above the sixth grade were closed from the 24th of Asad in 1400, after the domination of the Taliban group in Afghanistan, and universities were also closed for girls at the end of the month of Arc in 1401, and this caused the strong reactions of the international community and institutions. included international

But; In this regard, the Taliban always said that closing the gates of schools and universities to girls is temporary and will be reopened soon. But three years have passed since these conversations and there is still no word about the reopening of schools and universities in Afghanistan.