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http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/main/2013/07/31/feature-01

 

AFGHANISTAN - WOMEN POLICE OFFICERS - RISKS & BENEFITS

 

Authorities condemn the July 21 killing of junior police officer Parveena and highlight the vital role policewomen play.

By Nesar Ahmad - 2013-07-31

 

NANGARHAR, Afghanistan – Afghan authorities have condemned the July 21 slaying of policewoman Parveena and acknowledged the need for females on the police force.

Afghan policewomen receive instruction on shooting at the Afghan National Police Academy shooting range in Kabul December 9. Afghan militants have been targeting female police officers, officials say. [REUTERS/Omar Sobhani]

Afghan policewomen receive instruction on shooting at the Afghan National Police Academy shooting range in Kabul December 9. Afghan militants have been targeting female police officers, officials say. [REUTERS/Omar Sobhani]

Unidentified militants gunned down Parveena in the Landi Basool area of Momandara District, Nangarhar Province, when she and her family were heading to her father-in-law's house, District Police Chief Esa Khan Zhwak said.

The 33-year-old mother of three was a junior police officer in the 5th police district of Jalalabad, Nangarhar Police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashraqiwal told Central Asia Online.

Policewomen work despite threats

Parveena's main job was to search female suspects and residences, Interior Ministry spokesman Farooq Mangal said.

"The investigation is on-going but incomplete," he said.

No one has claimed responsibility, Mashraqiwal said, but he suspects Taliban militants were behind the killing, he said.

Militant attacks on policewomen have happened before in Afghanistan, Mashraqiwal said.

Islam Bibi, a senior police officer, was killed in early July when she was going to work with her son-in-law in Helmand Province, he said. In September 2008 the Taliban killed Malalai Kakar, chief of the Kandahar city police's department of crimes against women.

The Interior Ministry has condemned the attacks on policewomen but said they have not prevented women from working as or with police.

Benefits to having women on police force

Sahira Sharif, a member of parliament from Paktia Province, condemned the killings and expressed the need for policewomen.

"Afghanistan is a country with a male-dominated culture and tradition," Sharif said. "It is very difficult to work as policewomen in this country. But in spite of all these dangers and challenges, Afghan women work bravely alongside their brothers to serve the country."

Policewomen in Afghanistan have played a role in the war on terror, too, Mangal said. Because they are the ones who search female suspects, in March 2012 they helped in the arrest of seven male Taliban in Laghman Province who were dressed in women's clothing. As soon as the search found that the suspects were male, policemen were called in to finish the job.

Although the militants oppose the prospect of women serving as police, female Brig. Gen. Sharifa told Central Asia Online she never faced any problems from her colleagues or the public in her 40 years on the force.

"I have always enjoyed the support of my parents, and now I am a mother of four – three sons and a daughter," she said, " and my daughter is also in the police."

Policewomen are essential to investigations, search operations and even in prisons, Sharifa said.

"Men and women in police are like two wings of a bird," she said, noting that one depends on the other as they work together.

Afghanistan will recruit 5,000 more female policemen by 2014, she said, encouraging young women to come forward and join the police force. The country now has 2,000 policewomen, Afghanistan.ru reported July 29, quoting Hekmat Shahi, chief of the Interior Ministry Gender Department.