Disturbing cases have emerged in economically poor Afghanistan, where families sell their young daughters to be able to afford food and medical expenses and reduce the burden of debt.The United Nations says that three out of every four people in Afghanistan are unable to meet basic needs amid widespread unemployment, a faltering health care system and shrinking international aid. It is estimated that 4.7 million people, more than 10% of the population, are one step away from famine.According to a BBC report from Afghanistan’s Ghor province, parents suffering from extreme poverty and unemployment said they were forced to make “impossible choices” as hunger worsened across the country.
“Willing to sell my daughter?”
Abdul Rashid Azimi, a resident of the governorate, said that he is considering selling one of his seven-year-old twin daughters, Ruqaya and Ruhaila, because extreme poverty, debt, and unemployment have made him unable to feed his family.“I am ready to sell my daughters. I am poor, in debt and helpless,” Abdirashid Azimi told the BBC while crying.“I come home from work with dry lips, hungry, thirsty, sad and confused.
My children come to me and say, “Daddy, give us some bread.” But what can I give? “Where is the work?” he added. As he hugged and kissed Rohilla while speaking to reporters, Abdul said the decision “breaks my heart” but described it as the only option left for his family’s survival.Another father, Saeed Ahmed, said that he had to sell his five-year-old daughter, Shiqa, to one of her relatives after she developed appendicitis and a cyst in the liver, and he was unable to afford the medical treatment she needed.The BBC quoted him as saying: “I did not have the money to pay the medical expenses. So I sold my daughter to one of my relatives.”He added: “If I had taken the full amount at that time, he would have taken her away. So I told him just give me enough to treat her now, and in the next five years you can give me the rest and then you can take her. She will become his daughter-in-law.” Saeed said the money for Sheeqa’s surgery came from a $200,000 Afghan agreement under which she would eventually be married into her relative’s family.
He accepted only enough money at first to pay for the operation, delaying the rest so his daughter could stay with him for a few more years.Two years ago, his family, like millions of Afghans, received food aid including flour, cooking oil, lentils and nutritional supplements for children. But sharp cuts in international aid, especially after the United States cut almost all of its aid to Afghanistan and other major donors reduced support, have left families without this essential lifeline.
Why are daughters sold to sons?
Families largely sell daughters rather than sons because boys are traditionally seen as future earners who can support families financially. In Afghanistan, this preference has become more evident in light of the restrictions imposed by the Taliban that limit educational and work opportunities for women and girls. There is also an ancient custom in which the groom’s family gives money or gifts to the bride’s family during marriage, making daughters a source of immediate financial relief for poor families facing hunger, debt and medical crises.The practice of underage marriage remains widespread in Afghanistan, and is said to have increased since the Taliban banned girls from education. Experts said girls are often sold because restrictions on women’s education and employment have deepened gender inequality, while the Taliban’s policies towards women have also contributed to international donors withdrawing aid, worsening the humanitarian crisis.