Female Afghan Journalists Chip Away Country’s Gender Barrier

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

01.29.2011

Courtesy Story

ISAF Joint Command

By: Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Pomrenke

KABUL, Afghanistan – In a time when Afghan women are still not fully welcomed into the country’s workforce and local journalists often live in fear of reprisal after bringing to life corruption and violence affecting the everyday citizen, two Afghan women have decided to take on both challenges at one time.

Ms. Khalida Alkozai and Ms. Wazhma Fazli are journalists and radio hosts for Kabul’s Alam Round Table discussion, which brings together local leaders, politicians and even ISAF military leaders to share their views with Afghan citizens. The Alam radio program, which is broadcast in both Dari and Pashto, allows listeners the opportunity to hear often-opposing views of current events.

Alkozai, a 10-year veteran of Afghan journalism, began taking courses after discovering her passion for journalism. Since she began, she has experienced the hardships of a woman in the professional journalism field. With the fall of the Taliban, women began entering the field and many even did away with traditional clothing that was mandated by the previous regime.

“When I first started as journalist 10 years ago, shortly after the Taliban were out of [power] in the country, people were very narrow-minded. I would leave in the morning and come home at night and people thought differently. Even today some people think I’m not a good lady, so this is the biggest problem I face right now,” said Alkozai.

Before President Hamid Karzai was elected many women found themselves the target of harassment and threats from what Alkozai calls “narrow-minded” individuals. Some women left their desired profession to enter less dangerous fields.

“At that time it was pretty good, then slowly there was a time when women stopped [showing up] on television,” explained Fazli. “When women saw the community, they thought they couldn’t work in that environment and started leaving the media. Especially when the two [female] news anchors were killed, that really had a great impact.”

Fazli, who decided to become a journalist after watching television broadcasts with “many experienced and skilled journalists”, believes that when the new Karzai government came in, more women decided to become journalists.

However, with many areas having limited electricity or water, there are still hardships all the time and many journalists see the difficulties that everyday Afghans go through.

“There are people who are very literate and highly qualified, but they aren’t getting the basic needs like electricity and they don’t have those facilities available to them,” Alkozai said.


Although past journalists have been harassed, threatened and even killed over their ideas and outspoken beliefs, some larger cities have become more accepting of female journalists than others, such as Kabul.

“Journalism is very different in Kabul than other parts of Afghanistan, especially like in the rural provinces,” explained Alkozai. “Here, people are very broad-minded. The other parts see a [female] journalist without a scarf or a veil and they think pretty negatively.”

The job is not all risks though. Alkozai has had some memorable experiences since making her way into journalism.

“I have anchored many huge personalities and been there with them and hosted the shows or read news with them,” Alkozai said. “I hosted a few programs where President Karzai was there, too.”

Even though many women face intimidation and harassment, these women both agree that being a professional journalist is worth every risk.

“Everything in Afghanistan has its dangers,” said Fazli. “I haven’t faced any dangers to make me leave [journalism]. The advantages of being a journalist are far better than the dangers in this field.”

Alkozai continued, ”Because we love our jobs, we don’t care about the dangers.”

• Date Taken: 01.29.2011
• Date Posted: 01.30.2011 00:15
• Story ID: 64458
• Location: KABUL, AF