Craftsmanship Is One of the Last Economic Paths Afghan Women Have
This article is co-published with Artijaan.
When the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, Khadija* didn’t consider herself defeated. An embroiderer from Kabul, she had made it her life’s work to empower a generation of girls to preserve traditional Afghan sewing techniques. For ten years she worked as an embroidery instructor at a vocational training center, but with the regime’s swift resurgence to power, the center was shuttered. Even as the Taliban’s return interrupted the futures and freedom of millions or women and girls overnight, Khadija remained undaunted.
“My needle is my strength during this dark time,” she said.
In Afghanistan, where women’s access to work, education, and public life has been drastically curtailed or banned outright, craftsmanship remains one of the few viable pathways to self-direction and economic empowerment. While the Taliban have limited many forms of employment for women, traditional crafts have largely been tolerated because they are viewed as a culturally accepted form of women’s labor that can be practiced discreetly, at home or inside women-only workshops. With strict rules requiring women to be accompanied by a male guardian when traveling outside the home, many have shifted to home-based production.
Rural women especially face significant challenges to earning a sustainable livelihood. Those who once worked in fields, tended livestock, taught in schools, and sold produce in local markets have now been cut off from nearly all forms of public life. Their exclusion from the public sphere and forced absence from the workforce has left many families struggling, deprived of a crucial share of household income.
But craft nurtures their innate creativity and transforms it into streams of revenue for their families. In cities and rural areas alike, women gather in informal networks, in living rooms and walled courtyards, to create handmade pieces that fuel a fragile yet burgeoning economy of their own making. These spaces offer a sense for connection and creative expression, however fleeting.
Skills such as embroidery and weaving are culturally embedded, meaning Afghan women don’t need extensive training to begin—they draw on creative knowledge they already possess, passed down from their mothers and grandmothers. Doing this work from within their home offers a renewed purpose as they adapt to a more severe daily context.
“Arts and crafts encourage them to explore their creativity and imagination, allowing them to express themselves in several different ways,” said 23-year-old Nargis Noor, former program coordinator with Artijaan, a Kabul-based social enterprise that supports Afghan artisans. “These activities help women gain confidence and provide them with a sense of achievement.”
Amid a worsening mental health crisis, with women accounting for more than three-quarters of recorded suicide deaths and treated survivors since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, the ability to engage in dignified work is a fragile lifeline, often marking the threshold between resilience and resignation.
That understanding is what motivated Zahra*, 27, to start a gem-cutting collective in Badakhshan in 2022. After seeing the emotional toll of forced isolation and joblessness, she felt compelled to act.
“I wanted to create opportunities for other girls and women to have positive experiences,” she said. “If I myself hadn’t done this, I’d be home depressed, and my students too.”
She now employs a staff of fifteen women aged 15 to 26. Like many Afghan women navigating the weight of increasing restrictions, Zahra faces steep challenges. Gender-based restrictions limit her ability to access markets directly. She has adapted by moving a portion of her business online, but she still has to rely on male intermediaries to deliver her products and purchase supplies.
At Artijaan, we see our work as a way to support Afghan women even as Taliban-imposed restrictions have reshaped their lives in ways that seem irrevocable. We commission pieces directly from artisans, often providing them with raw materials and design samples, investments that would normally cut into their profits. We also act as the bridge between international brands and Afghan artisans, managing the full production journey from sourcing and design development, to quality finishing in our women-led design center in Kabul.
Artijaan partners with craftswomen across Afghanistan to bring their work to wider markers, helping stabilize their income and ensure that traditional techniques don’t disappear under the pressure of increased isolation and the long shadow of conflict. The women we work with are not passive recipients of aid, they are skilled artisans whose work deserves visibility and fair pay. Every handmade piece is a collaboration guided by the principle that economic development should honor, not diminish, local knowledge.
Craft alone cannot reverse the tide of repression Afghan women face, but it offers something rare and vital—a renewed sense of pride and purpose in even the most challenging circumstances.