Lack of female judges in provinces raises concerns

Security threats have posed a major challenge in terms of appointing female judges in the provinces of Afghanistan, especially in rural areas.

Hasina Safi, acting minister of women affairs, said opportunities should be provided to women in provinces to work as judges to ensure justice is carried out.

“All women need female judges in provinces to ensure justice. Work opportunities should be provided to women in the provinces,” said Safi.

Currently 256 women work as judges, 300 women work as administrative employees and 100 others work within the structures of the high court across the country.

The Secretary of the high court meanwhile said that women in this field mainly work in secure provinces.

“Women are represented in all provinces but most of them are in secure provinces. If we earned the trust of women we will have judges in all provinces,” said Javid Rashidi, head of the High Court Secretariat.

Women in Afghanistan can’t share their problems with male judges because of some limitations.

The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) said that the presence of women judges in provinces is crucial.

“We have 815 female prosecutors who work as judges. Providing work opportunities for women in provinces is very important. We suggest that traveling and working in provinces will be easy for women if their brothers or husbands can go with them,” said Sina Shina, deputy head of the AGO.

This comes as women deal with more legal cases in provinces in the country, however, the female judges can’t operate in all areas of provinces due to the lack of security.