In Afghanistan, a push for educational equality between men and women has done much to improve the social situation of Afghan women. Organizations such as Aid Afghanistan for Education, BRAC, and Barakat have accomplished a great deal, but advancements in education alone are not enough to solidify the promising future that Afghan women deserve. What Afghan women also need is professional opportunities and financial security. Part of the progress recently made in this sector comes from an unlikely source: bitcoin.
What is Bitcoin?
Created in 2009, bitcoin is a virtual currency that allows individuals from around the world to complete direct transactions without the need for middlemen, such as banks or brokers. Through bitcoin, people can avoid transaction fees and keep their money tied to an alias. Even the founder of bitcoin used an alias, Satoshi Nakamoto, and has not revealed his or her true identity. Unlike other currencies, bitcoin is not tied to a specific country or hindered by regulation. Thus, it is a relatively stable form of currency. bitcoin exchanges exist online for people to purchase the currency using their own local currencies, or exchanges can take place between two people virtually and immediately without the need to wait for transactions to clear.
How Bitcoin Helps Afghan Women
The value of bitcoin for Afghan women lies in the ability to work and get paid completely online. Fereshteh Forough, a founder of Digital Citizen Fund, is among one of the first advocates of bitcoin use among Afghan women. Her organization, Code to Inspire, teaches various programming skills to women who in turn can use them to secure work online. When women work through a computer, they do not have to worry about traveling long distances or otherwise jeopardizing their safety in order to obtain and complete work. As a result, they can become financially independent.
Digital Citizen Fund teaches women how to make money online through skills other than coding, such as blog writing, social media, and video production. Women receive payment in bitcoin, which allows them to conceal their identity and keep their earnings private. Even though women can make money in Afghan society through other means, they rarely have control over it once they have earned it. Bitcoin provides them with complete control over their earnings and makes them financially independent in a way that was not previously possible.
Prior to the bitcoin revolution, women who accepted online work were typically paid in American currency, which required hefty fees from PayPal or bank wires. Roya Mahboob, the co-founder of Digital Citizen Fund, recalls receiving payment for all the girls in the program in a single lump sum that she would then divide between them according to their earnings. This system avoided tremendous bank fees, but put the women in danger by forcing them to carry large sums of cash. Since bitcoin is anonymous, only the person getting paid knows when a payment comes in and how much it is worth. Bitcoin also prevents the need for a bank account, which can be a liability for a woman in Afghanistan.
Hurdles to Using Bitcoin
While bitcoin solves a lot of issues that contributed to financial dependence among Afghan girls, the percentage of people in Afghanistan with stable Internet access remains in the single digits. Digital Citizen Fund has created a large number of computer labs in Herat and Kabul that women can use free of charge. However, women in more remote areas still lack access to the technology needed to make use of bitcoin. When women must resort to using an Internet café, charges can be up to a dollar an hour, and harassment from men can hinder their ability to get any work done, although women-only cafes do exist.
Bitcoin will become a more viable option for women as Internet connectivity continues to expand in Afghanistan. Indeed, this sort of connectivity is vital for all business development in the country and integral to the future of Afghan economic development. Through organizations such as Digital Citizen Fund, the expansion of such resources does not mean one-sided development, but also provides opportunities for women to earn a living and become financially independent.
The Next Steps in Women’s Empowerment
Code to Inspire is seeking to expand training opportunities for women to new areas of Afghanistan and asking for support to accomplish this goal. The program teaches women how to code; find freelance work; and how to apply their skills in the modern technology economy, which is saturated with men. Support for Code to Inspire will help the organization continue to develop safe spaces for women to learn and grow into leaders. Economically empowering women has lasting effects on their confidence and self-esteem. As Afghan women continue to become empowered, they will naturally begin to play a larger role in society and demand greater equality. Support for women at this stage is fundamental to creating a safe and equal future for Afghan women.