The laws that prevent women reporting effectively are impacted by the intersection of being female and of being a journalist. The Taliban issued decrees that women are not allowed to travel alone, that TV presenters and guests must cover their faces, and in some provinces that their voices cannot be heard on the radio. Travelling to meet sources suddenly becomes impossible, while radio presenters and other female voices are silenced in places like Kandahar, where women have been told they cannot phone into radio stations.
This looks bad for afghan people, but I don’t see how it could change unless afghan people demand change.
There’s been intense outside pressure, a war/occupation, sanctions, and after many decades Talibans are still in power with their extreme patriarchy.
… how it could change unless afghan people demand change.
As much as I agree, we are probably not remotely able to fully understand the humanitarian situation the people of Afghanistan are facing every day.
Almost 20 million people – half the population – are suffering either level-3 “crisis” or level-4 “emergency” levels of food insecurity under the assessment system of the World Food Programme (WFP). […] tens of thousands of people in one province, Ghor, had slipped into “catastrophic” level-5 acute malnutrition, a precursor to famine. The WFP has stated that Afghanistan “continues facing the highest prevalence of insufficient food consumption globally.”
And the situation for women and girls is even worse, they are much more effected.
Thanks for highlighting this, I didn’t realize it has gotten this bad.
Afghans deserve aid, I don’t want to imply otherwise.
Also afghan Taliban leadership is responsible in part, and is further aggravating the situation by making it hard for NGO to provide aid.
At least seven international NGOs have suspended aid, saying they cannot work without female staff
Reflecting a concern that the deep ideological deadlock between the Taliban and the international community is consigning millions of Afghans to destitution, they call for a clear roadmap that will lead to the restoration of the basic functions of the Afghan central bank and the release of Afghanistan’s assets frozen abroad, mainly in the US.