Women Journalists in Afghanistan; Restrictions, Threats and Silencing

Following the Taliban’s return to power, Afghanistan’s media environment has faced unprecedented restrictions, with women journalists bearing the greatest impact. Bans on women’s work, security pressure and widespread censorship have led many female journalists to lose their jobs, and the country’s media outlets have gradually become single gender.

Women journalists say that although their income from media work was limited, that small salary still played an important role in meeting their basic needs.

Shakila Younesi, a journalist, told Zan News, “I am currently just sitting at home. If my husband can bring two pieces of dry bread at night, that is fine, if not, we all go to bed hungry.”

Mursal Ebrahimi, another journalist, says she lost her job at a visual media outlet following Taliban restrictions on publishing images of living beings, “The Department for the Promotion of Virtue in our province called the media owner and said you are not allowed to publish images of living beings and it is forbidden, especially images of women. I am currently unemployed.”

Karishma, another journalist from the south west of the country, recounts, “The Taliban forcibly pulled me out of the media and said I have no right to work because I am a woman.”

Nazila Foroutan, another journalist, also reports violent treatment by the Taliban, “The Taliban broke my camera while I was filming and warned me that if I did not stop my work and reporting, they would take action against me. After that, I could no longer continue my work.”

Taliban pressure is not limited to women journalists, media owners have also faced threats, censorship and economic difficulties.

One media owner in the west of the country, who did not want to be named, says, “The Taliban wants the media to be its propaganda tool. They told me to publish only content that serves the government’s interests, and when I refused, I was forced to stop my media activities.”

Another media owner in the southern region says, “The Taliban sees the media as its enemy. There is nothing left now except that they either order us to work in their favour or to stop working.”

Organisations supporting journalists and media emphasise that over the past four years, the presence of women journalists in Afghanistan’s media has significantly declined. According to statistics provided by one media support organisation, there are currently only 963 women journalists working across Afghanistan, while during the republic period more than 2,500 women journalists were actively present in the media.

These figures and accounts show that Taliban policies have not only targeted the right to work and freedom of expression of women journalists, but have also severely restricted citizens’ access to independent and balanced information. The silencing of women journalists and the shift towards single gender media pose a serious threat to the future of media freedom and social transparency in Afghanistan.