Islamabad: Fauzia is a Single Mothers with a five-one year-vintage son. In August 2021, after the Taliban regained energy in Afghanistan, her husband left the family, fearing retaliation.
Speaking to DW, Fauzia said, I turned into a police officer and labored for the National Security Forces.
When the Taliban got here, we have been residing in Kabul. My husband left us, and I needed to go into hiding with my son. We have been on the run for over 12 months to shop our lives. We change houses every two months and flow in with one-of-a-kind spouses and children.
Afghan Women Struggling in Daily Life
Violations of Women’s Rights Continue in Afghanistan, says the United Nations
Since the Taliban got here to strength, many former cops and infantrymen have long past lacking or faced execution, as they may be considered traitors.
Fauzia works as a cleaner to earn a living, the best job she could find. Her relatives help her, but there’s not much they can do.
Employment and Education: A Distant Dream for Women
According to the non-governmental organization International Rescue Committee, at least ninety of Afghanistan’s populace lives in poverty.
More than half of the 40 million population, about 28.8 million people, depend on humanitarian aid for survival. According to United Nations data, nearly 95% of Afghan citizens do not get enough to eat, and in female-headed households, this number is almost 100%.
A Death Every Two Hours: The Life-and-Death Struggle for Afghan Women During Childbirth
After regaining power, the Taliban promised to respect women’s rights within the framework of Sharia law.
However, in practice, they have introduced many new laws and policies to deprive women and girls of their rights across the country. These include bans on working, receiving education, and even leaving their homes without wearing a full-body veil.
According to United Nations data, about 1.5 million girls and young women have been systematically denied their right to education.
The condition of single mothers is particularly dire. One of the few female reporters in the Afghan capital, Azadeh Shirzad, says that she and her colleagues are trying to raise the voices of women in Afghanistan, though they do so cautiously and in limited ways.
She told DW, I have spoken to at least fifty single mothers in the past two years.
Single mothers in Kabul still work secretly. They cook food, sew clothes, work in salons, or clean. The situation in smaller towns and villages is even worse.
She explains, When everyone knows each other, and the Taliban have complete control, working (even secretly) is not possible. Women are at the mercy of their relatives and have to obey them.
Sometimes, they are forced to become a second or third wife to a man.
Women Forced to Feel Like ‘Prisoners’ with Men as Their Jailers
Heather Barr, Associate Director for Women’s Rights at Human Rights Watch, told DW that the ban on education for Afghan girls has completely taken away all their plans.
Single mothers without adult sons or brothers are practically confined to their homes as they have no male relatives to accompany them in public.
Barr said, Women and girls we speak to often say they feel like prisoners. They feel as if walls surround them.
It’s really like being a prisoner, with men and their families acting as jail guards.
Boys Leaving Education for Employment
Severe poverty often forces single mothers to send their children to work. Society pressures teenage boys to accept their responsibilities and start earning money.
Shirzad told DW from Kabul that they work in fields outside the city, sell small items on the streets or clean shoes.
She added, “People often exploit and sexually abuse these children. But their mothers have no choice but to send them to work.
As young girls leave school, boys in single-mother households also abandon their dreams of getting an education to meet their family’s needs.
Former police officer Fauzia, like many other single mothers in Afghanistan, is desperate and struggling to improve her situation.
Fauzia says I am thinking about selling my kidney. I want to flee the country with my child.
