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A Tattoo at a Time, Afghan Woman Takes on Society's Taboos

Associated Press

   KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - A female tattoo artist, a rarity in
   ultra-conservative Afghanistan, is taking a big risk with every
   customer she takes on.

   It's been 18 months since Suraya Shaheedi started her mobile tattoo
   shop in the capital, Kabul. She's received death threats for taking on
   the taboo of the ink-on-skin drawings she does -- as well as being a
   single woman willing to work with men.

   "I have struggled a lot, even been threatened with death, because
   people in Afghanistan think doing tattoos is haram," she said, using
   the Arabic word meaning prohibited by religion.

   "Whether my customers are men or women doesn't matter to me. I do
   tattoos for both," says Shaheedi, a 26-year-old, divorced single
   mother.

   In a black curtained room, surrounded by his friends, a young customer
   shrieks in pain as the needle pierces and inks his skin.

   "I can't leave the profession I love," Shaheedi adds.

   She easily gets customers, whether men or women, as social attitudes
   toward tattoos loosen up and more ink parlors open. It's the kind of
   small, but important change that Shaheedi feels a return of Taliban
   rule could threaten.

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