AFGHANISTAN: AFGHAN WOMEN TRAIN TO BECOME POLICE OFFICERS/WOMEN CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Record ID: 230533

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: AFGHAN WOMEN TRAIN TO BECOME POLICE OFFICERS/WOMEN CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
  • Date: 8th March 2004
  • Summary: (W3) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (MARCH 7, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. SLV AFGHAN WOMEN POLICE TRAINEES BEING TRAINED HOW TO USE HANDCUFFS 0.16 2. SV POLICE TRAINER TALKING 0.21 3. SV AFGHAN WOMEN POLICE TRAINEES LISTENING 0.28 4. CU WOMAN POLICE OFFICER WATCHING TRAINING 0.32 5. SV OF AFGHAN WOMEN POLICE TRAINEES USING HANDCUFFS 0.37 6. MCU/CU/SV OF TRAINEES LISTENING (3 SHOTS) 0.52 7. MCU (Dari) RAHIMA ATTAI, POLICE TRAINEE, SAYING: "It is one hundred percent necessary for women to be part of the police force. Because when a woman is arrested, it's less difficult to conduct the investigation if it's being handled by a female police officer. They are able to open up to us more than to male police officers." 1.04 8. SLV POLICEMEN WATCHING THE TRAINING 1.10 9. SV POLICE OFFICER TRAINING 1.14 10. MCU WOMAN OFFICER LISTENING 1.18 11. MCU (Dari) COLONEL AHMADULLAH ORIA, INSTRUCTOR, SAYING: "From our experience, the female trainees have been very enthusiastic. They have come forward to be trained and they are keen to learn the skills needed to become a good police officer. They tell me they want to serve their country this way." 1.39 12. LV STREETS OF KABUL 1.44 13. SLV WOMEN IN BURQA WALKING ON THE STREETS OF KABUL (2 SHOTS) 1.56 14. MCU (Dari) SHAFIQA, WEARING BLUE BURQA,SAYING: "Right now I feel free. We don't have any problems. I am happy that finally there is peace in our country and our economy is improving." 2.03 15. MCU (Dari) MASOODA DURANI, RESIDENT, SAYING: "But the law which is supposed to give us our rights and dignity and protection have not been enforced. Within Kabul, we feel safe, but outside of Kabul, it's still not safe for us women." 2.15 16. MCU (Dari) MEENA, RESIDENT, SAYING: "There are still some problems among families who continue to refuse to let their daughters go to school." 2.31 17. SV MORE OF POLICE TRAINING (3 SHOTS) 2.43 18. SLV AFGHAN MALE POLICE TRAINEES WATCHING 2.47 19. MCU (Dari) ATTAI SAYING: "When I came home, I saw that our women have lost their rights. They couldn't defend themselves, this is why I decided to join the police force so I can fight for and defend the rights of all Afghan women." 3.06 (W3) KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (MARCH 8, 2004) (REUTERS) 20. LV OF HALL WHERE AFGHAN WOMEN HAVE GATHERED TO CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY 3.12 21. SLV/MCU OF WOMEN LISTENING (2 SHOTS) 3.24 22. MCU (Dari) AFGHAN PRESIDENT HAMID KARZAI SAYING: "It has bee proven all around the world and especially in our beloved country Afghanistan that women are the symbols of peace." 3.38 23. LV OF GATHERING 3.47 24. MCU (Dari) KARZAI SAYING: "If we have our children educated, there will be no need to take our women for a simple treatment to foreign doctors and hospitals." 3.58 25. SV CAMERAMAN 4.02 26. SLV/SV/LV OF AFGHAN GIRLS SINGING SONG ABOUT MOTHERS (3 SHOTS) 4.24 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 23rd March 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Reuters ID: LVAE1KKHMCRT1QGUCFDMTAEMBHY5
  • Story Text: In celebration of International Women's Day, a
    handful of Afghan women take up the challenge and become
    the first batch of female police to boost the capital's
    security forces.



    Almost two-and-a-half-years ago, this scene would have been
    unthinkable - Afghan women training to become police officers.

    These days, four Afghan women are taking part in a rigorous training
    course aimed at making them the first batch of female police in more than a
    decade.

    Like most institutions in Afghanistan, the police force was destroyed
    by decades of invasion and war.

    One of the government's top priorities now is to build a professional
    national police force which will include women.

    Twenty-eight-year-old Rahima Attai is one of those who have come
    forward to take up the challenge.

    "It is one hundred percent necessary for women to be part of the
    police force. Because when a woman is arrested, it's less difficult to conduct
    the investigation if it's being handled by a female police officer. They are
    able to open up to us more than to male police officers," said Attai.

    The lack of women in the force has been a problem, especially in the
    hangover from the Taliban era when women were mostly banned from working or
    going to school.

    No special treatment is given to the female trainees who have to
    undergo the normal 8-week rigorous training which include physical and
    practical skills.

    "From our experience, the female trainees have been very
    enthusiastic. They have come forward to be trained and they are keen to learn
    the skills needed to become a good police officer. They tell me they want to
    serve their country this way," said instructor Colonel Ahmdalluah
    Oria.

    In the streets of Kabul, some women say they welcome the major changes
    that have happened in their country since the fall of the Taliban regime in
    2001.

    "Right now I feel free. We don't have any problems. I am happy
    that finally there is peace in our country and our economy is improving,"
    said Shafiqa, 21, who prefers to continue to wear the traditional blue burqa
    each time she leaves her home.

    But others are not as upbeat as Shafiqa, seeing little reason to
    celebrate International Women's Day on Monday.

    "The law which is supposed to give us our rights and dignity and
    protection have not been enforced. Within Kabul, we feel safe, but outside of
    Kabul, it's still not safe for us women," said thirty-seven-year-old
    Masooda Durani.

    "There are still some problems among families who continue to
    refuse to let their daughters go to school," said thirty-year-old
    schoolteacher Meena.

    But for Afghan women like Attai, who spent most of the last 5 years
    living in exile in Iran, coming home to help her fellow Afghan women fight for
    their rights is top priority.

    "When I came home, I saw that our women have lost their rights.

    They couldn't defend themselves, this is why I decided to join the police
    force so I can fight for and defend the rights of all Afghan women," said
    Attai.

    Also on Monday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai paid tribute to Afghan
    women who gathered at a local university in the capital Kabul.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register