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A number of tailors who sew women's clothing, in the western province of Herat, say that the Taliban have warned them orally to close their shops. But the Taliban denied that.
Usually, it's the men who sew the clothing that women wear in parties, in Herat, and the majority of women order their dresses in these shops. It has been 30 years that Mohammad Yasir works as a tailor in Herat. He has been shocked since he heard that the Taliban ordered the closure of his shop.
"A number of Taliban fighters entered our shop and ordered the apprentices to close it, because we sew women's clothing and they consider it wrong. From that day I cannot sleep, and have no idea how to feed my children," the tailor said.
Yasir is the only breadwinner of a six-member family. This quadragenarian has made his living since he was a teenager. Now, he is concerned for the future of his children, if he loses his job. "I cover our expenses through this job. I cannot do anything else, tailoring has been my job for several years. In the last year I have suffered economic losses, first because of COVID-19, and then because of Taliban's takeover," Yasir added.
According to him, his customers decreased by 60% since Taliban's takeover, because of the restrictions on women and the jobs relating to them.
This experienced tailor says that it would be better if the Taliban thought of different approaches, instead of this kind of decrees, to prevent economic losses for the people. "With the closure of tailoring shops which sew women's clothing across the city, not only the tailors are going to bear the brunt, but also the cloth-dealers, bead sellers and the people in charge of auditoriums , because all these professions are connected with each other, like a chain," he stated.
But Taliban denied that they have ordered to close the women's tailoring shops. Taliban officials say that they are not going to close the shops, they have simply advised the tailors. Mohammad Sadiq Akef Muhajir, spokesman for the ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice said that the tailors who sew women's clothing have been advised that they must not measure the size of women's clothing, the women themselves must do that at their houses or they must be accompanied by a female tailor, because in Afghanistan's society it's not proper that a man measure a woman for a dress.
The Taliban have issued dozens of written and oral decrees that impose restrictions on women.
Link to the Italian version
