In the heatwave of southwestern Afghanistan, the daily struggle for survival is etched in the faces of countless widowed women.
Zainab, a 40-year-old widow who spends her days on the side of a road in Zaranj, the capital of Nimruz province. Despite temperatures soaring between 40°C and 45°C, Zainab sits in the midst of a bustling, chaotic traffic scene, hoping for a few afghanis to provide some relief for her starving children.
“I have been begging for two years. We have nothing to eat, my children are hungry, I am forced to beg,” Zainab says, tears glistening in her eyes. “Coming here and begging destroys all my pride. I don’t want to beg, but I have to.”
Not far from Zainab, another widow, Mahnaz, stands at a different busy intersection. At 38, she too is driven to beg by desperation.
“Every day I come here to beg, I am forced,” Mahnaz explains. “Every day the debtors ask me for money and we don’t have it. The only way is to beg. My husband went to Iran to work, but Iran deported him back, and then he died. My children are hungry, and we have no money for food.”
Mahnaz refrains from sharing the circumstances of her husband’s death, but her narrative is echoed by many others who find themselves in similar dire straits.
According to the Taliban Ministry of Social Affairs, there are currently 500,000 widowed women across Afghanistan, with a significant portion of these women resorting to begging on the streets to feed their families.
Our findings, supported by interviews with over 300 widows from various regions of Afghanistan, indicate that a staggering 70% of these women are forced to beg.
Local residents witness the daily plight of widowed women and express a mixture of empathy and frustration.
Syed Ahmad, a resident of Zaranj, sees these women begging on the roads every day. “They all beg out of compulsion. The government should take care of them. They are sitting on the road, and their children are with them. There is a danger to their lives, maybe a car accident will occur, and their lives will be destroyed.”
Another resident, Sultan Muhammad, shares his distress. “Every day I see them sitting, my heart hurts, but they are forced to beg here.”
The situation in Nimruz is not unique. Across Afghanistan, widowed women face a harsh reality with limited resources and support.
The stories of Zainab, Mahnaz, and many others highlight the urgent need for comprehensive support systems.
Why are these women forced to beg?
In Afghanistan, people have been suffering for decades from starvation, war, and terror. However, the situation in the country deteriorated drastically in August 2021 as the Taliban took power.
According to the World Food Programme (WFP), in 2023 two-thirds of the population are dependent on humanitarian assistance – almost three times as many as in 2021.
For women and girls, the situation is particularly dramatic.
Women’s rights in Afghanistan are not respected, with restricted freedom of movement, restrictive dress codes, no protection from violence, and forced marriages being prevalent.
Women and Girls have lost the right to an education, women have few opportunities to work, and those working with humanitarian projects face significant obstacles.
Women are not allowed to move in public without a male relative, must adhere to strict dress codes, and face severe restrictions on their freedom.
Despite their initial promises to respect women’s rights within the framework of Sharia law, the Taliban issued numerous decrees that prevent women and girls from exercising their basic rights to freedom of expression, liberty, work, and education.
Afghans who protest for their rights are being threatened, arrested, and tortured. Women’s rights activists report there have been detentions, child marriages, forced marriages, and rapes.
Before 2021, women in Afghanistan had made significant progress, but patriarchal structures, religious fundamentalism, and corruption prevented many laws from being upheld.
Under the Taliban, this lack of rights for women became government policy again: They were excluded from public life, and their access to civil rights and liberties was radically cut.
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