KABUL (SW): Afghan women face great challenges at the social level and women photographers are not exception as they regularly deal with insecurity and violence.
Amina Hussaini is a photographer who has been familiar with camera since an early age.
Hussaini has put tremendous efforts to reach where she is today. She said about her challenges and how she has been harassed by curse words men have directed at her.
She recounts the sad story of her trip to a district in Bamiyan province when a raging man grasped her camera and broke it. She said that at that moment she did not understand the reason for it but later she fathomed that the man did not break her camera simply because she was taking photographs but the reason was why a girl travels from Kabul to one of the most remote districts of the provinces to take picture.
She urges all women photographers to resist the stifling situation ahead of them and do not allow such trend prevent them from photography.
Maryam Khamoosh has been working as a photo journalist for several years now. She said that lack of social security is one of the greatest obstacles women photographers face.
She said that the prevailing tradition has impeded the society as a whole and women in particular have been struggling with such issue more than men.
She said that she has been threatened and beaten up several times.
Comparing the current situation to the past, she said that the situation for women photographers has improved and women routinely take pictures on the streets now.
She said one of the main challenges she faces in her profession is that security forces always bother them for taking pictures.
Nilofar Nikpour is another young photographer who said that being a women is a great challenge in Afghanistan let alone being a women photographer.
She said she cannot dare to practice her profession alone and that was the reason why she always works in group.
She complained that the security forces instead of cooperating, sometimes create problems for journalists and photographers.
She pointed out to an incident saying that one day she and her colleagues decided to go out of the city and asked a police check point to ensure security but the police asked the girls to share their personal phone numbers in favor.
She said the government should consider a policy for photographers so that it would not look weird to see a woman holding a camera.
Sultana Habib, another photographer, has stopped her profession since 6 months due to lack of social security.
She said that she could not step out of her house at night. She said that even in a bright daylight she felt scared to take pictures.
The government has always declared its support of media, journalists and photographers but it is not clear why the violence cases against reporters and photographers are on the rise and why reporters and photographers never feel safe in the society.
ENDS
