The situation for women in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. Ever since President Joe Biden presided over the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, one that killed 13 American service members and countless Afghanis, the Taliban has made life for women in the Asian nation a living hell.
Women are forbidden from using cell phones, studying, working in offices outside the home, speaking in public, or being seen through windows. Now the Taliban has taken away another source of income for women, leaving many widows unemployed and starving.
A new Taliban ban has forbidden women from working in the carpet weaving industry, leaving many widows and sole breadwinners unemployed. Despite earlier restrictions on office work, some women had relied on these labor-intensive jobs—until now.💔😡
— WDI.Afghanistan (@WDIAfghanistan1) October 29, 2025
Please stand with Afghan women pic.twitter.com/IE7aa6VYr2
In April, the BBC reported that carpet weaving was a "lifeline" for women and girls in the Islamic caliphate nation:
At a workshop in Kabul where carpets are made, hundreds of women and girls work in a cramped space, the air thick and stifling.
Among them is 19-year-old Salehe Hassani. "We girls no longer have the chance to study," she says with a faltering smile. "The circumstances have taken that from us, so we turned to the workshop."
Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, girls over the age of 12 have been barred from getting an education, and women from many jobs.
In 2020, only 19% of women were part of the workforce - four times less than men. That number has dropped even further under Taliban rule.
The lack of opportunities, coupled with the dire economic situation the country faces, have pushed many into long, laborious days of carpet weaving - one of the few trades the Taliban government allows women to work in.
This wasn't the first time the Taliban banned this form of employment. In 2024, they banned women in six districts of Nangarhar from working at carpet weaving factories.
While the world turns a blind eye to the plight of Afghan women, they continue to allow the men who oppress them have citizenship in Western nations.
And yet we have given thousands of Afghan men the right to live in the UK even though they don't know how to treat women. That's on the @Conservatives and @UKLabour it's strange how the world just looks the other way when these women are treated so badly.
— MrsRealityUndercover (@Reality_Woman) October 31, 2025
Where is the @UN AND…
Feminists the world over would do well to pay attention. They've spent years warning that President Trump and Republicans will turn America into Gilead a la "The Handmaid's Tale" while ignoring what's actually happening to women.
Women's march never stands with these poor women. @billmaher you should see this. They are pure objects of men and American feminists should advocate for them. https://t.co/zlhFWVeUgu
— Lily Tang Williams (@Lily4Liberty) November 1, 2025
The feminists don't want to be perceived as racist, so they're silent.
Taking away women's right to work to support herselves and survive is against human rights law. Where is@amnesty @hrw @UN_HRC ? Why are you closing your eyes?? https://t.co/La6AhPQffa
— jj.e.h Nine Wolves 🇳🇴 (@juliealex) October 30, 2025
They don't care. It's that simple. And that's the best-case scenario. The scarier thought is that they support what the Taliban is doing, whether out of fear of being labeled racist or of Taliban violence or simply because they like what the Taliban is doing to women.