Survey calls for end to female carpet weavers’ misery

Thousands of women and girls who toil in appalling conditions to make Afghan carpets for export are treated as unpaid slaves and suffer from routine exhaustion, long hours and health problems, according to a survey conducted by a local rights body released on Thursday. The world famous handmade carpets, woven mainly in northern and central Afghanistan, are one of the poverty-stricken country's few exports and can fetch thousands of dollars abroad. According to the Ministry of Commerce, there are around 1 million small carpet workshops across the country, in which around 6 million people, mainly women and children, are employed. The Rabia Balkhi Advocacy and Skill building Agency (RASA) conducted the survey over seven months in three northern provinces: Balkh; Kunduz; and Jawzjan, and spoke to more than 300 weavers. “Most of the weavers spend up to 18 hours a day working in poor conditions, with many becoming ill and taking opium to relieve their pain,” Nilofar Sayar, regional director of RASA, said. Afghanistan's 2003 constitution limits the normal working day to eight hours. Many ethnic Uzbek and Turkmen women in warlord-dominated northern Afghanistan work in small home-based "factories" to make the country's famous carpets, known for their quality, intricate designs and use of natural dyes. According to the survey, 113 out of the 300 interviewers had started weaving the carpets below the age of 10. Eight-year-old Moursal said she had been weaving carpets in her home in the Afghan capital Kabul, since she was six. “Weaving has destroyed the vision of my eyes. I am suffering from chest pain too,” Moursal complained. While calling on the government to enforce standards on maximum working hours, Sayar said, “They’re the unpaid slaves of their male relatives," adding many of the women weaving carpets do not know the value of the carpets they make. "The weavers suffer from eye and leg problems. They suffer from tuberculosis," she said, adding they should be provided with health clinics and schools. Illiteracy was another problem among the women interviewed by RASA. Some 265 out of 300 were illiterate. Only 35 of them had had primary education, according to the survey.