Thread by @afghan_witness

#AFG | Knock-on Impacts of Restrictions Against Women

In #Samangan province, Tahminah Women's Park & Marketplace has become inactive due to increasing #poverty and #unemployment rates, and Taliban restrictions on women's freedom of movement (1/11)

🧵 AW research👇

On 14 May, the Afghan newspaper Hasht e Subh Daily reported on its website that the Taliban closed a park and women's market in Samangan.

The park was the only recreation facility and marketplace for women and girls in the province. (2/11)

8am.af/the-taliban-cl…

AW followed up on this news with a number of sources on the ground, including a former employee of the department of women's affairs, a local journalist, and a civil #activist in Samangan in order to find out more. (3/11)

All sources confirmed that the Tahminah women’s Park and Marketplace was not directly closed by the Taliban, but rather became inactive and collapsed as a result of gradual regulations imposed upon #women by the Taliban in recent months. (4/11)

According to a former department of women's affairs employee, the park - where some 20 women were engaged in economic activities in beauty salons, handicrafts, restaurants & grocery stores - faced challenges following the Taliban takeover & closed temporarily. (5/11)

She told AW that after a short break, the situation improved a little.

However, the Taliban’s restrictions on women’s freedom of movement and ability to work, combined with increasing poverty and unemployment rates, saw customers begin to decline again. (6/11)

Since their return, the Taliban have restricted women from working and from traveling alone over 72 km, and have recently issued a decree forcing women to cover their faces in public. (7/11)

Sources told AW that the women employed at the market suffered financial losses and were unable to continue their economic activities, so they closed their shops one by one. (8/11)

A civil activist in Samangan said that the lack of maintenance of the park in recent months had gradually led to the drying up of the park's green space and its declining cleanliness, which has also reduced the park's attractiveness to visitors. (9/11)

As well as the loss of jobs, the collapse of the park and marketplace also means women and girls in Samangan province have lost the only place dedicated to social activities for women, including celebrating birthdays and family parties. (10/11)

AW will continue to monitor the situation for women's rights in Samangan and across #Afghanistan. (11/11)

#Afghanistanwomen #WomensRights