Women in Afghanistan risk all for better life 05.07.11
8Afghanistan is the world's most dangerous country in which to be born a woman according to a recent report by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. This is due to violence against female public officials, dismal healthcare and desperate poverty; a woman's chance of dying in childbirth is 1 in 11. Afghan women, who dare to challenge ideas of what is acceptable, are often intimidated, or even killed. Muska Radio is three years old and a dedicated women's station, broadcasting news as well as factual programmes, on themes like cookery, and health. It's won national awards and has a huge following. The women who run the station have overcome huge prejudice, for the right to make radio programmes and read the news. Helmand, a patriarchal society means that it is rare for women to have the opportunity to work. Plenty of men still share the Taliban's extreme views on women's rights. The Provincial Community Council, Helmand's seat of local Government, is where the shift of power for Helmand's women is more evident than ever. Of the 33 council members, 4 are women. They act as a voice for all women across Helmand, fighting problems like domestic violence and forced marriages. They go out into the districts and speak to the elders, working hard to change attitudes in this male dominated society. But it's dangerous work. In recent years, insurgents have ruthlessly assassinated many women in such positions of power. At the Department of Women's Affairs, one project is in full swing. Women are running their own tailoring business, making clothes to sell with the help of government-funded sewing machines. These women are risking everything for the chance of a better life, for women across Helmand, for themselves, and for their daughters.