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Rampant sexual harassment remains biggest challenge for Afghan female journalists
The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC) in its recent survey said that more than 70 percent of Afghan women journalists are under sexual harassment during their jobs.
The survey carried out in seven provinces of Afghanistan in Central, South, East and North zones from 100 Afghan women journalists.
“Generally, 69 percent of the participants in the survey said that they had been sexually harassed during their jobs and 59 percent of them sexually harassed by their colleagues,” Najibullah, head of AJSC said.
According to AJSC findings, most of the families in south and eastern zones of Afghanistan prevent their daughters to work in media outlets.
More and more women are entering journalism, a profession long reserved for men. Some have chosen to focus on investigative reporting, covering human rights violations, corruption or other subjects that are off-limits in their society. Like their male colleagues, they are the targets of threats, intimidation, physical violence and even murder because of their reporting.
But because they are women, the harassment often takes specific, gender-based forms, including sexual smears, violence of a sexual nature and threats against their families. The very fact of being a woman journalist is regarded in some societies as a “violation of social norms” and may lead to reprisals.
For women journalists, it is also difficult to have access to accurate resources and information and most of the time government officials, including the local people, deny trust to the woman journalists and do not provide any information.
Religious leaders in the mosques are another group women journalists need to have access to. These leaders do not trust women journalists and refuse to provide any information.
In Afghanistan’s male-dominated society, women journalists are forced to confront cultural taboos on a daily basis, usually starting at home. Rigid inequality between men and women is widely assumed and reinforced. In many places, a woman’s presence outside the home is considered inappropriate. In this context, it comes as no surprise that most families refuse to allow female relatives to work in the media. The security situation in the country has added another set of restrictions on what women can and cannot do.
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Nakamura canal project completed in Nangarhar
The construction of a water canal, planned by the late Japanese doctor and aid worker Tetsu Nakamura, has been completed in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province.
Nakamura was from Japan, but had honorary citizenship of Afghanistan. He was killed in 2019.
He worked in Nangarhar for many years, focusing mainly on building water canals.
Nakamura was working hard to complete his projects, but these were suspended following his death.
Later, the projects were resumed with the help of the government of Japan.
During his time in Nangarhar, Nakamura built several health centers and carried out more than 1,600 irrigation projects, canal constructions and provision of clean water.
His greatest work was the construction of a 25-kilometer long canal from the Kunar river, which irrigates hundreds of acres of land.
He also built a recreation park, dug wells, and established agricultural research farms.
“Dr. Nakamura made 9 weirs in Kama, Shewa and Behsud districts. Thousands of acres of land are irrigated and millions of people benefit from it. All the projects planned by Nakamura have been completed,” said Ajmal Stankzai, the representative of the Nakamura Foundation.
“Nakamura would behave with a laborer like a laborer. He would take stones with us. He used to tell us that the people of every country serve their country and you should also serve the ruined Afghanistan,” said Deen Mohammad, a resident of Koz Kanar district of Nangarhar.
In Kama district, the work of Nakamura projects is ongoing. One of the projects is the construction of a secon canal from the Kunar river.
“There was a huge water problem in Kama district. Fortunately, with Nakamura’s cooperation, many lands were irrigated,” said Bashir Ahmad Kamawal, a resident of Kama district of Nangarhar.
After Nakamura’s death, now an NGO called PMS is following in his footsteps and is working to build canals and dams.
Recently, the construction of a canal in Kot district of Nangarhar was completed and inaugurated. The canal is 5 kilometers long.
“Many projects are planned and our ministry has taken care of them… We thank them for feeling the pain of Afghans and helping our country,” said Abdul Latif Mansour, Acting Minister of Energy and Water.
Tetsu Nakamura was shot and killed by unknown men in 2019 when he was going to work from Jalalabad city. It is not yet known who was behind the assassination.
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Deminer killed in landmine explosion in Uruzgan
A deminer died in a landmine explosion in Afghanistan’s southern Uruzgan province on Tuesday, police said.
The incident happened around 10:00 a.m. in Khurma area of provincial capital Trink Kot, said Hazrat Bilal Uruzgani, the provincial police spokesman.
Another deminer was injured in the incident, he said
Uruzgani said that the incident happened during an operation to clear the area from mines.
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Acting health minister visits flood-stricken villages in Baghlan
Afghanistan’s acting minister of public health Dr Qalandar Ebad, along with other officials, visited a number of flood-hit villages in Baghlan province on Tuesday.
The officials assessed damage in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo in the Guzargah district.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, Ebad inspected “vulnerable areas affected by recent floods and, expressing sympathy with the local people, promised that the leadership of the Ministry of Public Health will spare no effort to provide health services to those in need.”
Ebad also expressed gratitude for the efforts of healthcare workers and their commitment to helping people in need.
He directed officials to make every effort “to improve the health status of patients affected by recent floods in the villages of Sai Hazara and Gharo, Baghlan province”.
Based on official figures, more than 300 people have died as a result of floods in Baghlan province and over 1,600 others have been injured.
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