Women business owners say the Taliban prevented them from entering the third international construction exhibition in Kabul, which opened on February 12. The executions is scheduled to run until February 16.
Several women told Afghanistan International that they had rented exhibition booths for 6,000 afghanis but were stopped when they arrived to participate. According to them, officials from the Taliban’s morality police were stationed at the entrance and refused to allow women to enter.
One businesswoman said organisers had initially informed them that they could take part, but women were later barred from attending. She said many female handicraft producers rely on such events to sell their products and had now lost that opportunity.
Another woman said she had been denied entry for two consecutive days despite paying the booth rental fee. She added that foreign women were allowed to attend the exhibition, while Afghan women were not.
The exhibition opened on Thursday in the presence of Taliban officials, representatives of domestic companies and delegations from several regional countries, including Iran. Taliban authorities said dozens of local and foreign firms were participating.
The Taliban have not yet commented officially on the reports.
The same exhibition was held in Kabul last year without women’s participation.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women in Afghanistan. Girls have been barred from education beyond grade six and from universities, while many women have lost the right to work in government institutions and non-governmental organisations. The group has also imposed limits on women’s travel without a male guardian and on their presence in public spaces, including parks and some recreational facilities.
