As we approach International Women’s Day, a small collection of pioneering women explain what it’s like to break convention and play a role in their nations’ tourism stories, despite societal hurdles.

Growing up as a woman in the likes of Afghanistan, Somaliland or Pakistan, where there are traditional attitudes and views towards fixed gender roles, often mean women are rarely found in many areas of employment.

Tourism is a sector where this is particularly felt, throughout much of the Middle East, along with parts of North and East Africa and areas in Central Asia.

The adventure travel company, Untamed Borders, plays an important role in creating opportunities for women guides in many of the destinations it operates.

Over the past 17 years it has worked with women in the likes of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somaliland, Syria, South Sudan and many other nations across the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa.

Fatima in Afghanistan

These include Afghanistan’s first female tour guide, Fatima Haidari, who guided for the company in the city of Herat, before having to flee for her safety when the Taliban retook control of the nation.

The Taliban’s ultra-conservative interpretation of Sharia law mean women are largely excluded from the workplace and education settings. For Fatima, this meant she had to leave the nation, but she now offers virtual tours of Afghanistan through Untamed Borders. A portion of the proceeds from these sessions go towards supporting secret education programmes for women who are still in the nation.

Fatima explains what guiding means to her, “Becoming a guide as a woman in Afghanistan was not just difficult - it was like a battle. People gave me strange looks, made discouraging comments, and some even insulted me. Many believed that guiding was not a job for a woman. They thought I was doing something wrong, something shameful.

But I refused to let their words stop me. I knew that guiding was my passion, and I was not going to give it up because of outdated beliefs. I faced discrimination, but I kept going. I wanted to show other women that we can do anything we dream of, no matter what others say.

Being a guide is more than just a job for me - it is my passion, my way of life. It is about learning and teaching, sharing stories, and connecting with people from different cultures. Guiding gives me the freedom to explore, to travel, and to truly be myself. It allows me to show the beauty of places, their history, and their hidden stories.”

Javeria in Pakistan

Meanwhile, across the border in Pakistan, women also face many hurdles to enter into the sector, where studies show only 3% of the tourism workforce are female. Guide, Javeria Anwar, explains what it was like to battle against that sort of social stigma:

“It’s certainly not easy being a single child of over-protective, conservative, parents. We had huge arguments in the beginning, because in our culture, women don’t travel without a family member. They consider those who do to be a bad character and the traditional norm is for women not to interact with the opposite gender.

There are so many things involved, but I guess if God has put something in you, then you should not give up on your dreams, you should fight for it, for yourself and for your contentment. If you don’t you will always regret it.

Obviously, it’s a male dominant industry and they are sometimes challenges, you just need to learn how to deal with them. The best part of my job is I become a part of my clients’ lives forever, even after 10 years they will see the pictures and they will remember my name.  You learn so much from different people, different cultures, and there are so many different stories every day. You also learn to see the world from different angles, it’s a blessing to be a guide.”

Deka in Somaliland

These challenges for women are also felt in some countries in North and East Africa. In the Horn of Africa these are felt acutely, with women in Somaliland twice as likely to be unemployed compared to men.

Deka Hassan Abdi is one of the inspiring women, who is leading the way in Somaliland tourism:

“I find it quite exciting, more than challenging, because I believe that opportunities are created by you and not handed to you by society. People tend to be just surprised and explaining to them why I am a tour guide, is a challenge, because it’s not something they are used to seeing here.

Getting an opportunity to put my country out there and teach people about it, while taking part in the process of getting it recognized by the world, is truly a blessing for me. People have a lot of misconceptions about Somaliland, some people think it is not safe, which isn’t true, so tourism it a great way to help distinguish between the two.”

Yasmine in Algeria

Further north, Algeria is being seen as the next potential boom country when it comes to African tourism, but as of 2023 only 16.8% of women were in employment and those challenges are felt in the tourism industry too.

Yasmine Benchikh is one of those Algerian women wanting to play a part:

“Becoming a tour guide was my childhood dream, I’ve always wanted to meet people from all over the world and introduce my country to people.

Tourism is important to Algeria, it will make people feel more connected to the world. The country has multiple activities, such great hiking trails in the mountains. However, the country needs more affordable hotels, guest houses, road stops and in general, better quality hotels. I’m very ambitious about guiding, I’d like to learn more and more about this job.”

Along with women cultural tour guides, Untamed Borders, has also teamed up with a groundbreaking initiative in Tajikistan, which is training up the nation’s first female trekking guides.

The programme called “Women Rockin’ Pamirs” offers training courses, in a nation where around 69% of women are not in employment, and some of the benefactors from the scheme joined Untamed Borders’ on their Pamir Mountain Lakes trekking trips, as part of the guiding team.

Hopes for the future

Many of the women guides who work with Untamed Borders, hope to inspire a future generation of female tourism workers and change attitudes in the nations they represent.

Fatima Haidari currently can’t guide in her home country, but she has big ambitions for the future:

“I dream of having my own tour company in Afghanistan, where I can show the world the true beauty of my country. Afghanistan is often seen through the lens of war and conflict, but there is so much more to it.

Right now, I am conducting virtual tours from Italy. Even though I am far from home, I have found a way to continue my work and connect people to Afghanistan. Through these virtual tours, I am keeping my passion alive and showing my country’s beauty to those who cannot visit in person.

Alongside my virtual tours, I founded an association in Italy to support girls’ education in Afghanistan. I believe education is the most powerful tool for change. With the Taliban being in power, many girls in Afghanistan are denied the right to go to school and universities. Through my association and my virtual tours, I am helping provide resources and support to these girls so they can have a better future. I also hope in the future I could open more schools for girls. 

I have fought for my independence and my freedom, and I will never let anyone take that away from me. No matter, my spirit will always remain free.

I will continue to fight for my dreams, for the right of women to be free, and for a better future for the girls of Afghanistan.”