Afghan female journalists brave threats, domestic pressure

10 media women have been killed over the past decade.


Tahir Khan December 15, 2012

ISLAMABAD:


The number of women journalists in Afghanistan, including the Taliban birthplace of Kandahar, has fast increased in recent years despite the fact that newsmen in the country work under very difficult conditions and are consistently faced with security threats.


Afghanistan’s Independent Journalists Association (AIJA) says that there are 25% to 30% women journalists and media workers among more than 10,000 media personnel.

Afghanistan’s media industry has witnessed a significant growth over the past 11 years since the collapse of the Taliban rule in late 2001. The Taliban had banned watching television and the state radio, which they had named as ‘Radio Sharia’, was allowed to air mostly news, commentaries and their songs.

Nearly 80 terrestrial television channels, more than 175 FM radio stations and hundreds of publications have sprung throughout Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, according to the data compiled by various international media organisations. Reports suggest that over 100 small radio stations with limited/local reach are being run from the US military bases.

Hela Haya

A large number of women journalists joined media outlets after the collapse of the Taliban regime.

“Women journalists in Afghanistan are taking jobs as journalists, television presenters, broadcasters, and reporters, but they still face serious strictures, including on their movement outside their homes because of family pressure and traditions.

A Kandahar-based journalist, Mamoun Durrani, says that it is extremely difficult for Afghan women to adopt journalism as a profession because of cultural barriers and security threats.

“Those Afghan women, who have joined journalism as a profession, have broken the established restrictions in the traditional society because of their quest for this field,” Durrani told The Express Tribune from Kandahar by phone.

AIJA Chairman Khpulwak Safi said that 10 women journalists had been killed in Afghanistan over the past decade.

Ms Khalida, who works for a local radio in Kandahar, says that women journalists face many problems in the current circumstances in Kandahar.

“There are problems from family members, close relatives, who do not want us to work, and also from society in general. But now we have chosen this field and we will work and struggle to counter the risks,” she told the BBC Pashto service in a recent interview about the working conditions of Afghan women journalists.

Hela Haya, who has been working with a local radio in Kandahar for three years, listed security as the main problem for women journalists.

“When male journalists face risks in Afghanistan, then people will realise how difficult it is for the women,” she said in the same debate. She said no steps have been taken for the safety of women journalists.

Media watchdogs say that journalists in Afghanistan face intimidation from militants, government-backed warlords, drug-smugglers and government officials, who demand coverage in accordance to their own choice.

The government’s role to exert pressure on the media is also being questioned. President Karzai recently ordered the Information and Culture Ministry to take appropriate action against ‘confusing’ media outlets. Media workers, civil society representatives and some political parties criticised the president’s attack on the media.

In response, the president’s office accused domestic and international media of negative propaganda and psychological warfare against his US-backed administration.

“The psychological war of the foreign press against the government of Afghanistan is that if international forces leave Afghanistan in 2014, civil war will occur,” the official statement had quoted President Karzai as saying.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2012.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ