Kabul, Sept 25: Over 100 women police officers have been rehired in Afghanistan’s Badakhshan province, as a ray of hope for women amid the grave challenges of human rights violations in the Taliban-led country, news agency ANI reported.
According to state media, Tolo News, the officials of the Badakhshan Police Command said, “More than one hundred female police officers have been rehired and the majority of these female police officers had previously served in the previous administration.”.
“We have about 20 to 25 officers and lieutenants and 70 to 80 female soldiers,” said Badakhshan Police Commander Abdulhaq Abu Omer, as quoted by Tolo News.
In this province, female police officers are in charge of conducting house-to-house inspections and searching women. “As criminal department officers, we go when there is a criminal act and enter the house,” Khaleda, a police officer, said.
“We search the house and we arrest the women and hand them over to the criminal department,” said Gol Jan, a policewoman, reported Tolo News.
Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, the plight of Afghan women has continued to be deplorable in the country.
Contrary to the Taliban’s claims, girls were stopped from going to school beyond sixth grade on March 23 and a decree against the women’s dress code was issued after a month. There are restrictions on movement, education and freedom of expression of women posing a threat to their survival.
Not only this, the lack of female healthcare workers has prevented the women from accessing basic medical facilities, and the international donors, who fund 90 per cent of health clinics, are hesitant to send money because of their fear of the funds being misused.
Around 80 per cent of women working in the media have lost their jobs, and almost 18 million women in the country are struggling for health, education and social rights. Many women, particularly those who worked in security agencies, lost their jobs after the Islamic Emirate was re-established.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report the previous month, outlining the human rights situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.
The report summarized UNAMA’s findings with regards to the protection of civilians, extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, fundamental freedoms and the situation in places of detention.
Amid this, the rehiring of women officers comes as a ray of hope for the women facing several severe challenges in the country.
Some female police forces urged the Islamic Emirate to allow more women to work in government institutions. “We ask the Islamic Emirate to let all the women return to their jobs,” said Mashoqa, a police officer.
