“Woman journalists never feel safe”

KABUL (SW): Afghanistan Journalist Safety Committee (AJSC) released an opinion poll on Thursday which suggests that 69 percent of female journalists face harassment on regular basis.

Najib Sharifi, Head of AJSC, said that the poll covers 100 female journalists across the country.

The opinion poll clearly suggests that 53 percent of families of the female journalists have problems with their members’ occupation as journalist, 25 percent of such families in Kabul, 50 percent in Balkh and also in Nangarhar and Kandahar provinces who believe that woman should not work as journalist.

58 percent of the families in seven provinces are only agreed if woman journalists wear hijab and cover their faces.

The poll also talks about gender discrimination and the results showed that men have upper hand in having a job than women though it defers from province to province.

In the central provinces, women have meagre job opportunities than men or at times it is equal but in the provinces like Nangarhar women have 95 percent chances of getting jobs thanks to the lack of women presence as journalists in the province.

The level of incomes between men and women varies and 51 percent of the society believed that the women journalists earn less than men journalists.

The poll also suggests that women journalists never feel safe to have access to information due to threats from government officials, security forces and the citizens who continue to disrupt women journalists to carry out their job with a peaceful mind.

ENDS