“I was forced to sell my six-month-old child for 50,000 afghanis”

Karima

Former police officer, Ghor

A baby girl is half visible through a swaddle.

“I used to be a police officer before August 2021, and I had a relatively good income, which allowed me to solve my own problems and support my family. However, when the Taliban came to power, they no longer allowed me to work. My husband lost one of his legs in a traffic accident a few years ago, leaving him unable to work. As a result, I became the sole breadwinner for my family.

I am a mother of five children, my eldest son being 10 years old. Due to the lack of income in our home, I was forced to sell my 6-month-old child for 50,000 afghanis to ensure the survival of other family members. However, after a while, the money I had obtained from selling my child was exhausted, and I had to take on labourious work to make ends meet.

As my first endeavour, I decided to open a home bakery in my neighbourhood. I even had to buy the oven I used to bake bread on credit and promised the lender to pay off the debt over time with the income from my small business. I started my bakery with a bag of flour. I would bake bread daily and take it to the market for sale.

Unfortunately, after a while, the Taliban prohibited me from going to the market to sell bread and stated that I couldn’t work outside my home without their permission. The Taliban informed me that they would identify poor individuals and provide them with 2,000 afghanis monthly, but they were not allowed to leave their homes for work.

Since I had no other choice when dealing with the Taliban, I accepted their offer. They registered my name and provided me with 2,000 afghanis per month for two months. However, it has been a while since they stopped paying me, citing a lack of budget.

In these circumstances, I don’t know what to do. Winter is approaching, and I have no funds to buy heating materials. I haven’t paid the rent for the house I live in for the past four months. My husband is disabled, and I am the sole breadwinner in our home, struggling in dire economic conditions. Even worse, sometimes strangers threaten me because of my former work for the government, and I fear for my life. I’m afraid of dying and leaving my children without a caregiver.

As an Afghan woman who has served her people and society for several years, I appeal to the international community and human rights organizations to listen to the voices of Afghan women and [advocate for the Taliban to] respect the rights of Afghan women. If the international community doesn’t listen to the voices of Afghan women and leaves us alone, they will witness our destruction.”

“My heart has been heavy with the burden of these restrictions”

A masked and veiled young woman in coloured outfit stands, barely visible through a broken screened window.