‘We Have Stitched Our Hearts to Hope’: The Unseen Resistance of Afghan Women Under Taliban Rule

Gender-based oppression means systems and practices that deny people opportunities, freedom, safety, or dignity because of their gender. In Afghanistan, it matters because restrictions shape nearly every part of women’s lives. They limit education, employment, movement, healthcare, income, and public expression. Women describe these controls as imprisonment rather than ordinary policy changes.

The article gives clear examples. Rural women may be excluded from education and employment and depend on male relatives for public activities. Urban women face morality police, surveillance, clothing harassment, and bans on makeup and mobile phones. Speaking loudly or laughing can be treated as unapproved behavior. A woman may also need a man’s permission and money for basic needs.

The consequences reach beyond individual inconvenience. Women report isolation, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and rising suicide rates, sometimes after sexual violence. Yet they continue teaching secretly, working from home, and supporting one another. Their resistance shows agency, but it does not remove the systemic harm imposed on women and girls.

Since August 2021, Taliban rule has narrowed women’s access to education, employment, movement, healthcare, and public life. These changes matter because they remove both immediate choices and longer-term opportunities. Women who once studied or worked now describe isolation, frustration, and dependence. The restrictions also weaken services when women cannot train, work, or reach care safely.

In rural areas, women are described as completely excluded from employment and education and reliant on male relatives for public activity. Healthcare access is especially difficult because there are very few female health workers. In cities, morality police monitor women in public spaces. Makeup and mobile phones are banned, while clothing, loud speech, laughter, and other “unapproved” behavior can trigger harassment.

The rules are enforced through surveillance, questioning, and intimidation. Women must often ask men for money and explain their needs. The result is a daily atmosphere of control. Women’s resistance has kept some schools and work fields open, but only under severe restrictions.

The evidence includes 165 testimonies collected by the Organization for Policy Research and Development Studies, or DROPS. It also includes a survey of 500 Afghan women peacebuilders conducted by DROPS and the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security. These accounts matter because they show both personal experiences and broader patterns across Afghanistan.

Rural testimonies describe women being excluded from education and employment. They often rely on male relatives for public activities and face serious healthcare barriers because female health workers are scarce. Urban women report morality police, constant surveillance, harassment over clothing, and bans on makeup and mobile phones. They also face punishment for behavior such as speaking loudly or laughing.

The reports reveal different local realities, but a shared system of harm. Women describe depression, anxiety, fatigue, isolation, and fear. They also describe creativity and resistance. The peacebuilders’ survey found greater negative consequences and fewer personal benefits than among women globally, yet most said they would continue their efforts.

When women lose education, work, healthcare, and freedom of movement, the damage spreads through homes and communities. Women lose income, independence, social connection, and control over everyday decisions. Families lose the benefits of women’s skills and earnings. Communities also become less able to provide education, healthcare, and local economic activity.

The article describes women trapped inside homes with compounding trauma and fear. They report severe depression, exhaustion, anxiety, and rising suicide rates, often after sexual violence. Zulaikha says families now fear having daughters because they see them only as a burden. Women may need to ask men for money even for small needs, then answer intrusive questions about why they need it.

These conditions reinforce dependence and isolation. A shortage of female health workers makes care harder to reach, especially in rural areas. Yet women’s home-based work, farming, cooperation, and online activity help families survive. Their efforts soften some effects, but cannot replace equal access to education, employment, healthcare, and public life.

Afghan women do not respond to oppression in one uniform way. Their strategies depend on social, cultural, and personal circumstances, as well as the resources available to them. Some actively defy restrictions. Others choose practical adaptations that protect income, safety, or family stability. Recognizing this range respects women’s agency without minimizing the harm of Taliban policies.

Urban women report tailoring, handicrafts, and food production from home. Online, they teach, translate, design, manage social media, and exchange information, resources, and emotional support. Rural women turn to agriculture, livestock, and cooperative skill development. Some teach secretly. Others accept restrictions or pursue economic marriage as a survival strategy.

These actions show that resistance is not measured only by immediate policy change. Zohal says women’s resistance has helped keep some schools open and preserved some work fields under severe restrictions. The forward challenge is to support women’s choices and expand their resources while restoring education and employment opportunities.

Afghan women insist on direct participation because they understand the restrictions’ effects in ways outside actors cannot. They know how rules change education, work, healthcare, safety, income, and family life. Their involvement matters for designing responses that address real needs rather than treating women only as victims or speaking for them.

The reports describe women working across multiple sectors, including peacebuilding and community efforts. These women reported more negative consequences, including from aid cuts, and fewer personal benefits than women globally. Even so, most said they would continue their efforts. Their experience can guide humanitarian programs, identify urgent barriers, and show which forms of support are practical.

Women therefore demand meaningful inclusion in peacebuilding, humanitarian response, and political decision-making. Without their input, policies may reinforce existing harm or overlook half the population. Their participation also recognizes their leadership, creativity, and resistance. International responses should use their perspectives when addressing education, employment, aid, and Afghanistan’s future.

Gender equality means women and men have equal rights, opportunities, dignity, and ability to participate in society. It matters because people’s futures should not be determined by gender. Education, work, healthcare, movement, and decision-making should be available without discriminatory barriers. Equality benefits entire communities by allowing more people to contribute their skills and ideas.

Afghanistan shows what happens when that principle is denied. Women are blocked from education and employment, forced to depend on male relatives, and exposed to surveillance and harassment. A shortage of female health workers makes care harder to access. Families may begin seeing daughters as burdens, while communities lose women’s contributions in schools, workplaces, agriculture, and local support networks.

The article also shows that women continue creating income, teaching, cooperating, and resisting. Their efforts help families and communities survive, but they cannot replace equal rights. Restoring education and employment, and including women in public decisions, would support Afghanistan’s broader social and economic future.