2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/13345We present evidence for a strong correlation between the gaseous absorbing column density towards type 2 Seyfert nuclei and the presence of a stellar bar in their host galaxies. Strongly barred Seyfert 2 galaxies have an average Nh that is two orders of magnitude higher than non-barred Sy2s. More than 80% of Compton thick (Nh>10^24 cm^-2) Seyfert 2s are barred. This result indicates that stellar bars are effective in driving gas in the vicinity of active nuclei.4 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Astronomy and AstrophysicsAstrophysicstext