By Muzhda Mohammadi
As a woman living in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, Maryam* has seen many of her rights eroded in recent years. But she has managed to cling onto her right to get in her car and drive herself to the tailor shop where she works.
Driving is key to her independence, but now that too is under threat. In the last month alone, the 28-year-old has twice been stopped by the Taliban’s feared morality police and told she will be prosecuted and have her car confiscated unless she gives it up.
Maryam manages a tailoring workshop in Herat, Afghanistan’s third-largest city and capital of the western province of the same name. Historically, Herat has been one of the most progressive parts of the country, and women here continued to enjoy some rights even after the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Maryam runs her own business and uses her car every day to drive her colleagues to work.
“Driving makes work easier and allows me to bring the employees safely to the workshop, without them facing harassment on the way,” she told Rukhshana Media.
But in recent weeks, Maryam says she has twice been stopped by officials from Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice – the morality police. On the first occasion, she says, they stopped her and said women were no longer allowed to drive. Two weeks later, the same official stopped her again and threatened her with prosecution and having her car taken away.
“I stood up straight and told him, if you really think you can take care of my work, then appoint someone for me. I drive because I need to, I cannot give it up.”
Maryam knows she would not be the only one affected if she stopped driving. Her business employs 13 women and girls, and driving is crucial to its success.
“Before, I had to pay a lot for transport, and my work was often delayed. But now with my own car, without depending on a man, I can handle business matters such as buying, selling, and receiving goods. That feels good,” she said.
Herat is one of the few remaining places in Afghanistan where women can be seen behind the wheel of a car. Although there’s no formal national ban, restrictions on women working or even leaving their homes mean they are hardly ever seen on the roads.
In Herat, the screws are slowly being turned. Three years ago, there were reports that the Taliban had ordered driving instructors in Herat to stop awarding women driving licences. Then earlier this year, a letter from a top Taliban official in Herat banned women from driving altogether.
In the letter Shaikh Azizurrahman al-Muhajir, head of the Department for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Herat, said driving was “an important and responsible” task that women were not capable of carrying out properly because they were too “mentally distracted” and could make dangerous mistakes.
In fact, studies consistently show that men take more risks than women and are therefore more likely to be involved in road traffic accidents.
‘Insults and taunts’
Even before the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, societal and family pressures meant men dominated the roads in Afghanistan. At least four driving schools for women used to operate in Herat. Yet women like Shahnaz*, 41, still stayed away because of a lack of family support.
As a young woman, Shahnaz taught herself to drive, but she couldn’t afford her own car and pressure from her family meant she never drove in the city. Then two years ago, she was finally able to buy her own car, and now she drives herself around Herat. “Back then, I didn’t have the money or the courage I have today to fight for what I want,” she said. “But now that I have some financial independence, my family exerts less control over me.”
Now, she faces a different obstacle to driving, in the form of the Taliban.
Image: Rukhshana media.
Every day she drives her own car between home and work. She says she avoids roads patrolled by the morality police and seeks to avoid conflict if she does get stopped.
“You can’t argue at checkpoints. If they’re aggressive with me, I keep quiet,” she said. “For example, if they tell me not to use a certain road, I say ‘all right’ and avoid it for a while.”
Maryam and Shahnaz stress that Taliban bans are not their only problem. Harassment from men on the streets also makes driving difficult.
Shahnaz says that even when she wears a full hijab, she has to keep the windows closed because men catcall or honk unnecessarily. “Wherever we drive, something is said to us. They shout, ‘Auntie, who told you to drive? Why do you own a car? Auntie, you drive well, I should buy a car for my own mother too’,” and then they laugh.
Maryam believes these behaviours stem from ignorance: many of her friends who once drove have now stopped due to Taliban threats, social harassment or family opposition. “When a woman sits behind the wheel, she faces insults and taunts,” she said.
Amidst all the pressures, there are also moments of solidarity. “In some places, women support us. When we see each other driving, we raise a finger, give each other a thumbs up, and pass by,” Shahnaz said.
The women drivers we spoke to insist that they will not easily give up. “Driving is not just for fun or for leisure, it’s a necessity for women who work and run businesses,” said Shahnaz. “Women must unite and raise their voices to say that driving is essential for us.” * Names changed to protect sources’ safety
