In 1919, women in Afghanistan were given the right to vote. In 2023, the United Nations termed Afghanistan as the world’s most repressive country for women.
Throughout its complicated past, women’s rights through the lens of Sharia (Islamic) Law have been a battleground for the country’s leaders. Since the Taliban regime re-took the country in mid-August 2021, a series of restrictions have strangled women’s rights and freedoms to hitherto unseen levels, banning them from most public spaces and prohibiting access to education for girls over the age of 12.
In December 2022, women were stopped from working for most NGOs in the country and from using public bathhouses. In 2023, all beauty salons closed and women’s participation in the workforce fell to 4.8% (World Bank data). In 2024, new laws prohibited women’s voices from being heard in public. Women and girls cannot travel outside the home without a mahram (male relative). Nine in 10 women in Afghanistan are subjected to some form of domestic violence and one woman is dying every two hours during childbirth (UN data).
These isolating restrictions have a catastrophic effect on women’s mental health; globally, there are more male suicides than female suicides, but in Afghanistan, it is estimated that 80% of suicide attempts are made by women (Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission data). The restrictions also affect the flow of aid, restrict economic growth and increase poverty – and this in turn exacerbates risks of human trafficking, abuse and displacement.
This isn’t a new pattern, but one witnessed worldwide in times and places of conflict, and one that Swiss-based NGO Hagar International was set up to address. It was founded in 1994 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in response to severe domestic and community violence in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge genocide. It began operations in Afghanistan in 2008, and Vietnam in 2009, with partnership programmes also run in Singapore, Myanmar, the Solomon Islands and Thailand.
Its 135-strong team in Afghanistan provides small business support and delivers Hagar’s Restoring Lives through Livelihood (RLL) project – which specifically supports women who have survived sexual exploitation and gender-based violence, and those who have lost their livelihoods due to governmental changes.
“We work with communities because we know that elevating communities reduces the risk for abuse,” says Catherine Kirkendell. “But Hagar is focused on individuals, so our care is also tailored to an individual need.”
Kirkendell is executive director at Hagar’s US office and has been deeply involved in the organisation’s work in Afghanistan. She describes how person-centred and trauma-informed care is vital. “If one woman needs more counselling we do that. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach because these women need as much autonomy as possible to get to a place of restoration.”
Part of this autonomy is through training and trading through co-operatives. “Co-operative factories” and “commercial home-based co-operatives” are two of the business types permitted by the Taliban, she explains.
“In 2006, Hagar undertook a feasibility study looking at different income streams and chose to focus on clothing as a practical skill that women could take into their future. It was also approved by the Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, as a woman’s sewing co-operative is considered by the government to empower women to do women’s work.”
Hagar established three tailoring co-ops in Kabul province, where women work and learn together, producing garments to sell. The women are trained in tailoring and garment design, giving them the practical skills necessary to continue in the trade together or find secure employment within the industry. The co-operatives also connect women to local and regional markets, allowing them to sell their products and expand their customer base, and provide business development training, covering planning, financial management, and marketing strategies.
They are allowed to travel to the co-operative centre to learn, where they receive their own sewing kits. Then, when they have learned the trade, the co-op collectively decides where and how to sell the garment in different places, and splits the proceeds.
Hagar works with each individual to ensure safe transport to sell goods and receive livelihoods and pays the women’s wages for the first six months of training, then if they remain in training with the co-operative, the factory pays a small wage and the women receive the funds from selling their goods. Some women go on to set up their own factory settings, some will return to their home town with their kit and sell their goods at a local market (with a mahram in attendance):
“Since the start of RLL project, we have supported 410 women,” says Rohullah Ahmadi, Hagar’s country director for Afghanistan. “Of these, 287 women (70%) are now working together in six co-operatives, splitting all the costs.” The remaining 123 are working separately from home, often back in their home province.
Although technically self-employed, “in Afghanistan this is called ‘supporting the family’ – it provides a livelihood for the whole family and because this is valuable, it is one way to reduce the risk of abuse,” adds Kirkendell.
Ahmadi explains how the women in the co-operatives are linked to and getting orders from the market, and directly benefiting from this. “The six co-operative centres are now registered with the Taliban as private businesses owned by these women.”
He shares testimonials from some of those who have benefited from the co-operatives. “RLL’s Cooperative Centre became a beacon of hope for me.” “RLL’s Cooperatives became a source of rejuvenation of my new life.” “I didn’t have the confidence and money to buy food for my children, but RLL’s Cooperative Centre and its teachings boosted my confidence and my economic situation. Now I can buy food with my own money and earnings.”
As an NGO, Hagar can’t employ women in its main office or anywhere there could be a man, “but we are permitted to employ house mothers in the accommodation provided for women who travel to Kabul from different provinces to join the co-operative, and in their shelter for girls and young boys who have been trafficked or abused, or victims Bacha Bazi [a form of contemporary child sex slavery where young boys dance for and are gifted to high powered men],” says Kirkendell.
“These house mothers are permitted as this is seen as providing for a family that would not otherwise be provided for.”
There is a waiting list to join the co-op, with women referred from other NGOs. Others find out about it after having been a victim of abuse, or through other women and family members. “But it’s voluntary participation so their family have to allow them to opt in; there are cultural barriers where some families don’t.”
The Hebrew name Hagar means “one who flees” or “one who seeks refuge”, and the story of Hagar and her son, Ishmael, is known to many faiths including Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
In 2000 BC, Hagar worked in a foreign land as a domestic servant for a rich man named Abraham and his wife, Sarah. Sarah couldn’t bear children, and following a common practice at the time, she offered her servant to Abraham. When Hagar became pregnant, Sarah grew jealous and threw her out of their home. An angel found Hagar alone in the desert. He promised a blessing on her child, naming him Ishmael, which means “God hears”.
“Hers is the story of millions of exploited, abused, and trafficked women and children,” says Hagar in its mission statement.
Kirkendell adds: “Our underlying goal is to restore the lives of these women and children, reducing risk and increasing resiliency – that requires individualised care so these women feel seen and heard. Co-ops were designed to provide care, and to work as a group so each individual gets what they need. It makes sense that for those coming through trauma, co-operatives work.
“In the co-op, each woman holds the same weight as another. Although women aren’t allowed to own it, they are a part of it and their cohort is equal. The trainers are there to train, not as a superior. You are not subject, you are a part of this whole.”
Update 8 February 2025: Since this story was written, Hagar International has been impacted by the Trump Administration’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning U.S. Foreign Aid, and received notifications from USAID and the U.S. Department of State’s TIP Office to pause all programmatic and financial activities funded by US Government Agencies. Hagar is urging lawmakers “to act swiftly to restore essential funding, reaffirming U.S. leadership in the global fight against human trafficking”, but the move has immediately affected its programs in Afghanistan and Cambodia. Click here to find out more about how Hagar’s work impacts people worldwide – not just in the countries they work in – or to support their work.
