GHAZNI CITY (SW): Women rights activists in southern Ghazni province claim very few among a lot of educated females are allowed to work in public sector and that too under difficult circumstances.
These activists believe women have great potential to serve in the public sector but due to rampant incidents of sexual harassments, many of them prefer to stay home. Zainul Arab Miri, a women rights activist in Ghazni told Salam Watandar that she knows many girls who have graduated from universities and are even encouraged by their own families to work but they have chosen to stay home out of fear.
She added that many young girls who were working have either resigned or been sacked for saying no to certain behaviors from their male colleagues. Citing one such example, Zainul Arab Miri said a young girl, who worked at the Ghazni provincial council, recently left her job because of inappropriate behavior by some male members of the council.
Fatima Rahimi, a female representative of the Ghazni's provincial council, also believes that in addition to financial corruption, moral corruption is another major reason for the absence of women in government offices in Ghazni. She said that due to lack of financial independence and lack of political ties, women are denied leadership and management positions, and that is why they end up in low profile position at the government offices.
Shukria Wali, Head of provincial women affairs department, noted the social and cultural constraints have also been the reasons resulting in further minimizing women’s role in the public sector. She said that the department is responsible for encouraging women to join public offices and it does give priority to women who apply. She claimed that women are more likely to work in offices that are headed by women. According to her, the departments of women affairs, education and public health are the departments where women are more interested to work in.
About the complaints in regard to sexual harassment in public offices, Shukria said that she cannot verify it since she has not directly received any complaints.
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