KABUL (SW)) – During interviews with the officials of 55 media outlets in the country, Salam Watandar found that the presence of women in these media has decreased from 78 percent to 66 percent after the caretaker government of the Islamic Emirate came to power.
Based on the findings of Salam Watandar, before the fall of the previous government, 831 women and girls were present in 55 media outlets in the country, and after the caretaker government came, the number has decreased to just 288.
Officials of those media outlets where the presence of women has decreased, told Salam Watandar that the restrictions on the media and women by the caretaker government have caused the presence of female employees in the media to decrease significantly. The head of Chinar Radio in Kabul, Ismatullah Halim, told Salam Watandar: “We had ten female employees during the Republic, but now we have five or six female employees.”
At the same time, the head of Wak Radio in Kabul, Amanullah Nusrat, said: “In the current situation, the presence of women is low, in the media of some provinces, there are almost no female workers. In this situation, we have only few female workers. We used to have more than 50 percent of female workers. But now the number has dropped to 20 percent.”
In the research conducted by Salam Watandar, it was found that 12 percent of the 55 different media have seen the changed.
At the same time, the officials of these media outlets say that after many efforts, they managed to secure the presence of women in their media, but the reports received by them show that the presence of women in other media has become very small.
Director of Tolo News TV, Zabihullah Sadat, told Salam Watandar: “When the regime fell, the presence of women in the media decreased due to restrictions on women, but we still have 20 female employees who are present at different areas. They are busy presenting the shows, doing online and on-camera work.”
Abdul Haq Mansour, the head of Arman Radio, said: “The presence of women in the media is not like before. It is not like the Republic and now the presence of women is low. Considering the current conditions, the number of female employees in Moby group is good, it is like during the Republic, at Arman fm, five or six women were working in the past and they are still working.”
Also, the presence of women and girls has increased in 10 percent of the 55 media investigated by Salam Watandar. Officials at these media outlets also mentioned that the reason for the increase in the presence of women in these media is the provision of work opportunities to women by the officials.
On the other hand, based on the information given to Salamat Watandar by the Association of Free Journalists and the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, the presence of women in the media shows a decrease of 81 and 70 percent.
According to the figures of the Afghanistan Journalists Association, the number of women in the media during the Republic had reached 2,750, but now this number has decreased to 545.
At the same time, the officials of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists say that at the end of the Republic, there were 1,500 female journalists and media workers registered with this institution, but now the number has decreased to 450.
At the same time, a number of female journalists and media workers who were dismissed from their jobs in the media after the caretaker government came, say that they were dismissed without reason and are now facing economic problems due to unemployment.
Soraya Yousefi, a media worker, said: “They didn’t give me a specific reason, they didn’t give me a logical or scriptural reason, they just said that you can’t come anymore, because the Emirates don’t want you, after the job. I lost it, I have mental problems, I lost my ability and I am facing economic problems.”
Shamail Mousavi, an employee of a television station, said: “I used to work in the media, but I’m at home now, I don’t have a job. We left our job due to changes in the country. This situation has created many economic problems, we have no hope, but we continue to live.”
However, the officials of the Ministry of Information and Culture deny the drop in presence of women in the media and say that women are present in the media as before.
At the same time, in response to Salam Watandar’s question about the number of female employees in the country’s media outlets, the ministry said that there is no accurate number of women working in the country’s media.
Director of Broadcasting at the Ministry of Information and Culture, Abdul Wahid Rayan, told Salam Watandar: “In the past, how many women worked in the media, they are still busy working in the media, and the media that are active in the country do not include the number of women employees on its own.”
ENDS
