By: Rukhshana Media
In an interview with Rukshana Media on October 16, several female journalists who have lost their jobs since the Taliban seized power on August 15 last year, said they deal with mental and psychological pressures.
They said after losing their jobs, they are homebound due to the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on Afghan women, especially women working in the media.
Arezo*, one of the journalists who has worked in national and international media for several years, said that she lost her job due to the Taliban’s lack of accountability, lack of access to resources, and the restrictions imposed on media activities of women in Afghanistan.
“It was disappointing to lose my job,” she said. “With an uncertain future, I am now in a miserable mental and emotional condition.”
Arezo said, she would love to work in the media again, of course, if the restrictions on women journalists are eliminated.
Fereshta*, another female reporter who has worked with domestic and foreign media outlets for nearly ten years, said the fall of Afghanistan was disappointing.
“The saddest thing is that I had to give up working in media.”
“Due to the strict rules of the Taliban, the media outlet I was working with, did not extend my contract,” she added.
The former female journalists asked the organizations supporting the media, not to merely publish the number of Afghan female journalists who have lost their jobs, but also investigate their situation and advocate for women journalists to provide them jobs.
Meanwhile, NAI, an organization supporting open media in Afghanistan, recently said that after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, about 93 percent of female journalists and media workers left their jobs due to severe restrictions.
In an interview with the BBC, Zarif Karimi, head of NAI, said that out of 2000 female journalists and media workers, only 200 are left, who are not allowed to appear on TV screens and only work in technical departments and behind the scenes.
Previously, in a decree, Afghan female TV anchors were ordered to cover their faces on-air.
In a recent report, Reporters Without Borders said that about 40% of Afghan media stopped working after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
