Zuhal Atmar
Her leading work at the recycling facility exposed her to gender discrimination and harassment. She said that it was difficult to set up her company as women in Afghanistan do not have access to loans. The reason for such discrimination is that they fail to complete requirements such as guarantor, business partner and collateral. She operated her company after getting a $100,000 loan from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Atmar also struggled with patriarchy. She said she was harassed by male competitors. In a report, Atmar said that “there’s a lot of judgment and many people are bothered by me running my own business.”