![The women desperate to work in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/af/28/6d/The-women-desperate-to-work-in-Tali-610166.jpg)
-
Concern grows as Venezuela blocks election observers
-
'Massive attack' on French rail threatens more chaos
-
'We did it!': France breathes sigh of relief after Olympics ceremony
-
Blinken, in Laos, set for talks with Chinese foreign minister
-
Regional concern grows as Venezuela blocks vote observers
-
Historic river parade, Dion show-stopper ignite Paris Olympics
-
Rainy Paris Olympic parade dampens many spectators' spirits
-
G20 pledges to work together to tax ultra-rich
-
The one of a kind Paris opening ceremony: five memorable moments
-
Justin Timberlake seeks to dismiss DUI case
-
Warner Brothers Discovery sues NBA over Amazon rights deal
-
Kobe Bryant locker, Maradona jersey up for auction in New York
-
Historic river parade launches Paris Olympics
-
Stocks rise as US inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
New York family of Holocaust victim reclaims Nazi-looted art
-
NASA Mars rover captures rock that could hold fossilized microbes
-
Thousands evacuate season's biggest wildfire in northern California
-
Sinaloa Cartel co-founder pleads not guilty after stunning US capture
-
Ethiopia mourns victims of landslide tragedy
-
Lady Gaga adds sparkle to star-studded Olympic show
-
Airbus and Boeing supremacy secure despite turbulence
-
Teams sail down Seine in rain-soaked Olympics opening ceremony
-
Norris hoping for more after topping Belgian practice times
-
West Indies' treble strike rocks England in third Test
-
Trump slams rivals as he meets Netanyahu in Florida
-
Olympic opening ceremony under way on River Seine
-
Mott's England future uncertain as ECB chief fails to offer support
-
Trump meets Israeli PM Netanyahu in Florida
-
S.African police say 95 Libyans detained at suspected military camp
-
Blinken set for talks with Chinese counterpart in Laos
-
Norris heads Piastri in McLaren one-two at Belgian GP practice
-
G20 seeks common ground on taxing super-rich
-
European medicines watchdog rejects new Alzheimer's drug
-
Harris gets vital Obama backing in battle against Trump
-
Habib, Ebden eye Alcaraz and Djokovic shocks at Olympics tennis
-
Stocks rise as inflation data boosts rate cut hopes
-
Long queues, ticketing problems ahead of Paris opening ceremony
-
Two Sinaloa Cartel leaders face US charges after stunning capture
-
Spain train driver jailed for 2.5 years over deadly 2013 crash
-
Paris poised for Olympic opening ceremony spectacular
-
Judoka fails doping test in first case at Paris Olympics
-
Holder and Da Silva keep England at bay after West Indies collapse
-
Alpine F1 boss Bruno Famin to leave in August
-
Ethiopia declares three days of mourning after landslide tragedy
-
Brazilian dunes dotted with dazzling pools make UNESCO heritage list
-
Rain, cooling slow huge blaze in Canada's Jasper park
-
French Rugby's Jaminet suspended 34 weeks after racist video: Federation
-
Osaka looking to turbo-charge comeback at Paris Olympics
-
Stock markets climb as US inflation rate drops
-
Russian central bank hikes key rate to fight inflation
![The women desperate to work in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan](https://www.berlinertageblatt.de/media/shared/articles/af/28/6d/The-women-desperate-to-work-in-Tali-610166.jpg)
The women desperate to work in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
Since their takeover a year ago, the Taliban have squeezed Afghan women out of public life, imposing suffocating restrictions on where they can work, how they can travel, and what they can wear.
There is hardly a woman in the country who has not lost a male relative in successive wars, while many of their husbands, fathers, sons and brothers have also lost their jobs or seen their income shattered as a result of a deepening economic crisis.
AFP took a series of portraits of women in major cities -- Kabul, Herat and Kandahar -- who are trying to keep households together by whatever means they can.
"During these hard times, it is my job that has made me happy," 40-year-old baker Shapari told AFP.
"My husband is jobless, and staying at home. I am able to find food for my children."
Women have been barred from most government employment -- or had their salaries slashed and told to stay at home.
They are often also first to be sacked from struggling private businesses -- particularly those unable to segregate the workplace in line with Taliban rules.
Some jobs remain open, though women face far steeper obstacles than male colleagues.
- 'Queen of the honey bees' -
Tahmina Usmani, 23, is one of a few women journalists who have been able to continue working in the sector.
In order to circumvent a Taliban order to cover their faces while on the air, she and others at Afghanistan's news broadcaster TOLOnews wear a Covid face mask.
"I was able to join TOLOnews and be the voice for women in Afghanistan, which makes me feel great," she said.
Ghuncha Gul Karimi, another woman photographed by AFP, grew her beekeeping business to produce honey for sale after her husband left the country.
"I've taken up two extra jobs and bought a motorcycle to drive myself from the honey farm and back," she said.
"I am determined to become the queen of honey bees."
Even before the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan was a deeply conservative, patriarchal country with progress in women's rights limited largely to major cities.
Women generally cover their hair with scarves, while the burqa –- mandatory for all women under the Taliban's first regime, from 1996 to 2001 –- continued to be widely worn, particularly outside the capital Kabul.
Earlier this year, the religious police ordered women to cover themselves completely in public, preferably including their faces.
O.Krause--BTB