<p>Since its takeover a year ago, the Taliban has squeezed Afghan women out of public life, imposing suffocating restrictions on where they can work, how they can travel, and what they can wear.</p>.<p>There is hardly any 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.</p>.<p><em>AFP</em> 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.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/its-own-and-afghanistan-worst-enemy-1135641.html">Its own, and Afghanistan’, worst enemy</a></strong></p>.<p>"During these hard times, it is my job that has made me happy," a 40-year-old baker Shapari told <em>AFP.</em></p>.<p>"My husband is jobless, he stays at home. I am the breadwinner for my family."</p>.<p>Women have been barred from most government jobs -- or had their salaries slashed and told to stay at home.</p>.<p>They are often first to be sacked from struggling private businesses -- particularly those unable to segregate the workplace in line with Taliban rules.</p>.<p>Some jobs remain open, though women face far steeper obstacles than male colleagues.</p>.<p>Tahmina Usmani, 23, is one of the few women journalists who has been able to continue working in this sector.</p>.<p>In order to circumvent a Taliban order to cover their faces while on air, she and others at Afghanistan's news broadcaster <em>TOLOnews</em> wear a Covid face mask.</p>.<p>"I was able to join <em>TOLOnews</em> and be the voice for women in Afghanistan, which makes me feel great," she said.</p>.<p>Ghuncha Gul Karimi, another woman photographed by <em>AFP</em>, grew her beekeeping business to produce honey for sale after her husband left the country.</p>.<p>"I've taken up two extra jobs and bought a motorcycle to drive myself from the honey farm and back," she said.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/afghanistan-has-lost-60-of-journalists-under-taliban-1135596.html">Afghanistan has lost 60% of journalists under Taliban</a></strong></p>.<p>"I am determined to become the queen of honey bees."</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Earlier this year, the religious police ordered women to cover themselves completely in public, preferably including their faces.</p>
<p>Since its takeover a year ago, the Taliban has squeezed Afghan women out of public life, imposing suffocating restrictions on where they can work, how they can travel, and what they can wear.</p>.<p>There is hardly any 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.</p>.<p><em>AFP</em> 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.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/its-own-and-afghanistan-worst-enemy-1135641.html">Its own, and Afghanistan’, worst enemy</a></strong></p>.<p>"During these hard times, it is my job that has made me happy," a 40-year-old baker Shapari told <em>AFP.</em></p>.<p>"My husband is jobless, he stays at home. I am the breadwinner for my family."</p>.<p>Women have been barred from most government jobs -- or had their salaries slashed and told to stay at home.</p>.<p>They are often first to be sacked from struggling private businesses -- particularly those unable to segregate the workplace in line with Taliban rules.</p>.<p>Some jobs remain open, though women face far steeper obstacles than male colleagues.</p>.<p>Tahmina Usmani, 23, is one of the few women journalists who has been able to continue working in this sector.</p>.<p>In order to circumvent a Taliban order to cover their faces while on air, she and others at Afghanistan's news broadcaster <em>TOLOnews</em> wear a Covid face mask.</p>.<p>"I was able to join <em>TOLOnews</em> and be the voice for women in Afghanistan, which makes me feel great," she said.</p>.<p>Ghuncha Gul Karimi, another woman photographed by <em>AFP</em>, grew her beekeeping business to produce honey for sale after her husband left the country.</p>.<p>"I've taken up two extra jobs and bought a motorcycle to drive myself from the honey farm and back," she said.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/afghanistan-has-lost-60-of-journalists-under-taliban-1135596.html">Afghanistan has lost 60% of journalists under Taliban</a></strong></p>.<p>"I am determined to become the queen of honey bees."</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>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.</p>.<p>Earlier this year, the religious police ordered women to cover themselves completely in public, preferably including their faces.</p>